Big City Small World Bakery Café, LLC v. Francis David Corp.

265 F. Supp. 3d 750
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Michigan
DecidedJuly 11, 2017
DocketCase Number 16-12652
StatusPublished
Cited by27 cases

This text of 265 F. Supp. 3d 750 (Big City Small World Bakery Café, LLC v. Francis David Corp.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Michigan primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Big City Small World Bakery Café, LLC v. Francis David Corp., 265 F. Supp. 3d 750 (E.D. Mich. 2017).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO DISMISS OR COMPEL ARBITRATION

DAVID M. LAWSON, United States District Judge

The plaintiff alleges in a complaint and amended complaint on behalf of itself and others that defendant Francis David Corporation, which does business as Electronic Merchant Systems (EMS), overcharged it for processing credit card transactions. The plaintiff signed a credit card merchant agreement with EMS that contained an arbitration clause. Before the Court is EMS’s motion to dismiss or compel arbitration. Although the agreement contains a rate schedule governing the parties’ relationship (which the plaintiff contends was exceeded), the plaintiff has gone to great lengths to distance itself from the merchant agreement, and to argue that the arbitration clause is unconscionable. Those efforts do not persuade. Therefore, the Court will grant the motion to dismiss.

I.

In summarizing the facts below, the Court has looked to the complaint,- the amended complaint, and the admissions and other discovery responses produced by the parties during the period of limited discovery that the Court allowed to address whether the case must be sent to arbitration.

Most of the basic background facts of the case are undisputed. Plaintiff Big City Small World Café, LLC is a small bakery in Ann Arbor, Michigan, operated by its owner Scott Newell. Defendant EMS is an Ohio corporation that provides credit and debit card transaction processing services to retail merchants like Big' City. In.March 2012, Big City was approached by an agent of EMS offering its transaction processing services. The agent assured Big City that EMS could lower the bakery’s costs for its credit card services. The agent represented that EMS could process transactions for a fee comprised of “Interchange + 0.80% + 10 cents per transaction,” which means whatever amount was charged by the underlying, card, issuer “interchange network” to complete each transaction, plus a fixed 10 cent charge and a variable amount equal. to 0.80% of the purchase value. That sounded like a good deal to Newell, so on March 21,2012 he completed an application and merchant agreement to become a customer of EMS, and he signed that agreement as a principal and authorized representative of the plaintiff.

Although they are at odds about the legal effect of the agreement, the parties do not dispute that the copy of the document attached to the defendant’s motion to dismiss is an accurate and complete copy of the merchant agreement that was signed by the plaintiff. The agreement contains the following operative provisions pertinent to this lawsuit.

First, and of principal relevance to the present motion, the agreement contains an arbitration clause which reads as follows:

Except as expressly provided in Section 27, any claim or dispute arising out of or related to this Agreement shall be finally resolved by final and binding arbitration. Whenever a party shall decide to institute arbitration proceedings, it shall give written notice to that effect to the [754]*754other parties. The party giving such notice shall refrain from instituting the arbitration proceedings for a period of thirty (30) days following such notice to allow the parties to attempt to resolve the dispute between or among themselves. If the parties are still .unable to resolve the dispute, the party giving notice may. institute the arbitration proceeding under the rules of the American Arbitration Association (“AAA Rules”) .... The arbitrator shall have the authority to award any remedy 'or relief a court of the State of Ohio could order or grant, including, without limitation, specific performance of any obligation created under this Agreement, the awarding of the issuance of an injunction or the imposition of sanctions for abuse or frustration of the arbitration process. Judgment upon the award of the arbitrator may be entered in ’ any court of competent jurisdiction and enforced with full judicial effect thereafter. All fees and expenses of the arbitration shall be borne by the parties equally. However, each party shall bear the expenses of its own counsel, experts, witnesses, and preparation and presentations. The [arbitrator is] authorized to award any party such sums as shall be deemed proper for the time, expense and inconvenience of arbitration, including arbitration fees and attorney fees.

Agreement ¶28. Although that provision states that “any claim or dispute arising out of or related to this Agreement” would be resolved by arbitration, the agreement includes a carve-out provision allowing the defendant to resort to litigation in the specific case of an action to collect sums due and unpaid under the agreement:

Bank and EMS shall have the absolute right to initiate or defend any and all disputes arising from this Agreement with Merchant.... In the event of a claim by Bank and/or EMS for the failure of a Merchant to pay any charge-backs, fees, settlement costs, or other amounts due hereunder, Merchant agrees that personal jurisdiction and venue of any such claim shall lie in the federal or state courts of Cuyahoga County, Ohio.

Agreement ¶ 27.

Second, the agreement states that its term “shall commence on the acceptance of the Application and this Agreement by Bank and EMS and the issuance of a merchant account identification number to Merchant identifying Merchant for accounting, billing, customer service and related purposes .... and continue for a minimum of twenty-four (24) months unless earlier terminated in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement.” Agreement ¶ 9. The agreement further states that it “shall be effective only upon acceptance and signature by Bank and EMS,” but that “[a]ny application fee paid to Bank or EMS is nonrefundable whether' or not Merchant and this Agreement are accepted by Bank and EMS.” Agreement at 7. The agreement also states that it “may not be modified in any respect without the express written consent of the Bank.” Ibid. However, the agreement also states that it represents consent by the merchant, effective upon its execution, for EMS to process credit and debit entries to the merchant’s bank account. Agreement at 1. (“MERCHANT hereby authorizes BANK and EMS in accordance with this MERCHANT Agreement to initiate debit/credit entries to MERCHANT’S checking account as indicated below. This authority is to remain in full force and effect during the term of this Agreement.”). As to any purported “waiver” of its provisions, the agreement states: “Neither the failure nor any delay on the .part of Bank or EMS to exercise any right, remedy, power or privilege hereunder shall operate as a waiver nor be construed as an agreement to modi[755]*755fy the terms of this Agreement.” Agreement ¶ 24.

Third, in a section labeled “SCHEDULE OF FEES,” the Agreement sets forth, in boilerplate terms modified by handwritten figures that were filled in on certain blanks, the “Interchange + 0.80% + 10 cents per transaction” formula alluded to in the complaint. Agreement at 2. The parties have not pointed to any other document disclosed during the course of the limited discovery which memorialized that schedule of fees.

Finally, with respect to choice of law, the agreement states: “This Agreement shall be governed by and constructed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio.” Agreement ¶ 27.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
265 F. Supp. 3d 750, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/big-city-small-world-bakery-cafe-llc-v-francis-david-corp-mied-2017.