In Hearn v. Comcast Cable Communs., LLC, 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 1811430 *23 (October 21, 2019), the court held a plaintiff’s claim for relief under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) did not relate to the service agreement between plaintiff and defendant, and therefore did not fall within the scope of their arbitration agreement.
Plaintiff Michael Hearn contracted for services from defendant Comcast Cable Communications (Comcast). The parties entered into an agreement that contained a binding arbitration clause, an opt out provision, and a survival clause which stated that the “parties’ agreement to arbitrate survives termination of the agreement.” After a period of time, plaintiff terminated his use of defendant’s services. Plaintiff then filed suit for various violations of the FCRA arguing that Comcast obtained his consumer report for an impermissible purpose. In response, Comcast argued that the plaintiff’s claims were covered by the arbitration agreement in the parties’ contract.