Court Nixes Arbitration |of Gateway Class Action

(CN) - Computer buyers don't have to arbitrate a class action accusing Gateway of hiding the fact that its Pentium 4 processor chip is slower and less powerful than its predecessor, an Illinois appeals court ruled.

Faced with the class action, Gateway Corp. unsuccessfully asked the trial court to compel arbitration.

The 5th District Appellate Court agreed that the arbitration agreement is void, because the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) is no longer handling consumer disputes.

"We find that the selection of the NAF (in the agreement) is neither logistical nor ancillary and is thus an integral part of the agreement to arbitrate in this case," Judge Stephen Spomer wrote.

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