In
my blog post of March 9, 2018, I commented on the case of
Uber Technologies Inc. v.
Heller, an action in which the validity of an arbitration
clause in an Independent Contractor Agreement was in issue.
Heller was an Uber driver who had signed an agreement with Uber.
The agreement provided that any dispute would have to be resolved
by arbitration, and would have to take place in Holland. Holland is
the location of the head office of Uber's parent company.
For obvious reasons, the idea of arbitrating in Holland would
not appeal to a Canadian driver in almost any circumstances.
Presumably, that was the idea behind Uber's drafting of the
clause in that manner.
Heller commenced an action against Uber notwithstanding the
arbitration clause and attempted to persuade the Court that the
clause should be ignored. He was not successful. The Court hearing
the matter referred to numerous Supreme Court of Canada decisions
that made it clear that where a mandatory
