In a published decision filed last month, the New Jersey
Appellate Division held in Wollen v. Gulf Stream Restoration
and Cleaning, LLC that an internet-based company providing
home-improvement services failed to establish that plaintiff knew
about the arbitration provision included in the hyperlinked
"Terms and Conditions" on the company's website. The
Terms and Conditions required consumers to give up their rights to
a judge or a jury trial in case of a dispute and, instead, any
dispute was to be decided through arbitration. The Terms and
Conditions also barred class actions, class arbitration, or other
representative actions or proceedings.
Plaintiff's counsel maintained that the arbitration clause
in the Terms and Conditions did not apply because Plaintiff never
assented to the agreement and, consequently, to the arbitration
clause. The court agreed with Plaintiff, stating that the hyperlink
containing the Terms and Conditions was "vague, ambiguous
