Please read the following arbitration agreement in this Section
("Arbitration Agreement") carefully. Unless you opt out in the
manner described in Section 14(10) below, this Arbitration
Agreement requires you and Fydinn Group to resolve disputes by
binding arbitration instead of in court, and limits the manner
in which we may seek relief from each other.
1. When Does This Arbitration Agreement Apply?
This Arbitration Agreement applies to any disputes or claims of
any kind whatsoever (whether based in contract, tort, statute,
regulation, ordinance, fraud, misrepresentation or any other
legal or equitable theory) between you and Fydinn arising out of
or relating to the Terms, prior versions of the Terms, your use
of our App, or any other aspect of your relationship with
Fydinn, including claims or disputes arising (but not actually
filed in arbitration) before the effective date of these Terms.
It requires that, and by entering into these Terms you and
Fydinn agree, that such disputes or claims will be resolved by
binding arbitration, rather than in court, except (i) that you
or Fydinn may assert individual claims in small claims court if
your claims qualify; (ii) that you or Fydinn may seek equitable
relief in court for infringement or misuse of intellectual
property rights, and (iii) to the extent the Ending Forced
Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act
precludes arbitration of the disputes or claims.
2. Notice of Dispute and Informal Resolution.
Before beginning the arbitration process, you and Fydinn agree
to first notify one another of the dispute in writing at least
60 days in advance of initiating an arbitration. Notice to
Fydinn must be sent by letter to our registered agent: CT
Corporation, 1209 Orange Street, City of Wilmington, County of
New Castle, Delaware 19801, and must provide your name, current
email address, mailing address, and telephone number, as well as
the name, email address, and telephone number associated with
your Fydinn account (if different from your current
information); and describe the nature of the claim and the
specific relief being sought.
You and Fydinn agree to meet and confer, via teleconference or
videoconference, in a good faith effort to informally resolve
any claim or dispute covered by this Arbitration Agreement. If
either party is represented by counsel, that counsel may
participate in the informal dispute resolution conference.
During this process, you may be provided with an offer of
judgment. A party defending against a claim may serve on an
opposing party an offer to allow judgment on specified terms,
with the costs then accrued. If the judgment that the offeree
finally obtains is not more favorable than the unaccepted offer,
the offeree must pay the costs incurred after the offer was
made.
All offers, promises, conduct, and statements made in the course
of the informal dispute resolution process by any party, its
agents, employees, and attorneys are confidential and not
admissible for any purpose in any subsequent proceeding,
provided that evidence that is otherwise admissible or
discoverable shall not be rendered inadmissible or
non-discoverable as a result of its use in the informal dispute
resolution process.
The informal dispute resolution conference shall occur within 60
days of receipt of the written notice described above, unless an
extension is mutually agreed upon. If, after participating in
that conference, the parties are unable to resolve the dispute,
the claimant may commence an arbitration in accordance with this
Agreement. Completion of this informal dispute resolution is a
condition precedent to filing any demand for arbitration.
Failure to do so is a breach of this Agreement, and no demand
for arbitration shall be valid unless such written notice is
provided and good faith discussions have been conducted.
Any statute of limitations will be tolled while the parties
engage in the informal dispute resolution process described in
this section.
3. How Do You Start The Arbitration Process? If
you and Fydinn are unable to resolve the dispute within 60 days,
either party may proceed to file a claim for arbitration. To
begin the arbitration process, you or Fydinn must submit notice
by certified mail of the claim with an individualized
arbitration demand. To be valid, the demand must contain the
name of the claiming party (you or Fydinn), your or Fydinn's
mailing address, the email address or phone number associated
with your Fydinn account (if applicable), and a detailed
description of the dispute and the relief sought. Notice to
Fydinn must be submitted to our registered agent:
4. What Are The Rules Of Arbitration? The
Federal Arbitration Act ("FAA") governs this Arbitration
Agreement and applies to the interpretation and enforcement of
this Arbitration Agreement. If the FAA is found to not apply to
any issue regarding the interpretation or enforcement of this
Arbitration Agreement, that that issue shall be determined by
Texas law, notwithstanding choice-of-law principles, pursuant to
Section 18 of the Terms. The applicable arbitration provider
depends on where you live. If you live in California, the
arbitration will be administered by ADR Services, Inc. under its
most current arbitration rules and procedures, available at
https://www.adrservices.com/services-2/arbitration-rules/. If
you live outside of California, the arbitration will be
administered by National Arbitration and Mediation under its
most current Comprehensive Dispute Resolution Rules and
Procedures, available at
https://www.namadr.com/resources/rules-fees-forms, or under its
most current Supplemental Rules for Mass Arbitrations, as
applicable, available at
https://www.namadr.com/content/uploads/2021/12/SupplementalRules12.22.21.pdf.
If the applicable arbitration provider is not available to
arbitrate, including because it is not able to administer the
arbitration(s) consistent with the rules, procedures, and terms
of this Arbitration Agreement, including those described in
Section 15(8) (Mass Filings), the parties will select an
alternative arbitral forum. If the parties cannot agree on an
appropriate alternative arbitration provider, then the parties
will ask a court of competent jurisdiction to appoint an
arbitrator pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 5 that is able to administer
the arbitration(s) consistent with the rules, procedures, and
terms of this Arbitration Agreement. This Arbitration Agreement
will govern to the extent it conflicts with the arbitration
provider's rules.
The initiating party must pay all filing fees for the
arbitration. Your and Fydinn's responsibility to pay other
administrative and arbitrator costs will be as set forth in the
applicable arbitration provider's rules, unless the arbitrator
determines the claims are frivolous. If a claim is determined to
be frivolous, the claimant is responsible for reimbursing the
respondent for its portion of all such administrative, hearing,
and/or other fees incurred as a result of the frivolous claim.
You may qualify for a waiver of certain arbitration costs under
the applicable arbitration provider's rules or other applicable
law. If you meet the standard for proceeding in forma pauperis
in federal court, Texas state court, or the courts of your state
of residence, cannot obtain a waiver from the arbitration
provider of any filing fees you are required to pay, and the
arbitration provider refuses to administer the arbitration
without your payment of said fees, Fydinn will pay the filing
fees for you.
5. What Can The Arbitrator Decide? The
arbitrator has the exclusive authority to resolve any and all
threshold arbitrability issues, including whether this
Arbitration Agreement is applicable, enforceable, or
unconscionable. Courts, however, shall have the exclusive
authority to determine (i) whether any provision of this
Arbitration Agreement should be severed and the consequences of
said severance, (ii) enforceability of any or all of the mass
arbitration procedures set forth in Section 13(8), (iii) whether
you have complied with conditions precedent to arbitration, and
(iv) whether an arbitration provider is available to hear the
arbitration(s) under Section 14(4). The arbitrator will have the
authority to grant motions dispositive of all or part of any
claim. The arbitrator will have the authority to award monetary
damages and to grant any non-monetary remedy or relief available
in an individual under applicable law, the arbitral forum's
rules, and the Terms (including the Arbitration Agreement). The
arbitrator will issue a written award and statement of decision
describing the essential findings and conclusions on which the
award is based, including the calculation of any damages
awarded. The arbitrator has the same authority to award relief
that a judge in a court of law would have. The award of the
arbitrator is final and binding upon you and us.
Pursuant to and in conformance with Section 18 of the Terms, any
original action to compel arbitration under Section 4 of the FAA
(or analogous state law) must be brought in a State or Federal
Court located in Travis County, Texas.
6. No Jury Trials. By agreeing to arbitration,
YOU AND FYDINN ARE EACH AGREEING TO WAIVE THEIR RIGHTS TO A JURY
TRIAL. Instead, you and Fydinn are electing that all claims and
disputes will be resolved by arbitration under this Arbitration
Agreement, except as described in Section 14(1) above. An
arbitrator can award the same damages and relief as a court and
must follow this Agreement as a court would. However, there is
no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an
arbitration award is subject to very limited review.
7. One At A Time. All claims and disputes
within the scope of this Arbitration Agreement MUST BE
ARBITRATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT ON A CLASS OR
COLLECTIVE BASIS, AND YOU AND FYDINN GIVE UP YOUR RIGHTS TO
PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION OR ANY OTHER CLASS PROCEEDING.
However, this shall not preclude the use of bellwether
arbitrations, global mediation, or batch arbitrations as
described in Section 14(8) below, nor preclude the application
of the arbitration provider's fee schedules for mass
arbitrations, as applicable. Only relief that would be permitted
in an individual lawsuit is available, and claims of more than
one customer or user cannot be arbitrated or consolidated with
those of any other customer or user, except as provided in
Section 14(8) below, nor shall this preclude application of the
arbitration provider's fee schedules for mass arbitrations, as
applicable. The arbitration proceeding will not be consolidated
with any other matters or joined with any other cases or
parties, except as provided in Section 14(8) below, nor shall
this preclude application of the arbitration provider's fee
schedules for mass arbitrations, as applicable.
For mass arbitrations before ADR Services, Inc., you and Fydinn
agree that its mass arbitration fee schedule shall apply,
available at
https://www.adrservices.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/ADR-Mass-Consumer-Non-Employment-Fee-Schedule-Eff-11-5-21.pdf.
For mass arbitrations before National Arbitration and Mediation,
you and Fydinn Group agree that its mass arbitration fee
schedule shall apply, available at
https://www.namadr.com/content/uploads/2023/07/Consumer-Fees-as-of-7.1.2023-updated-as-of-7.1.2023.pdf.
For mass arbitrations before any other arbitration provider, you
agree that its mass arbitration fee schedule shall apply. If the
arbitrator does not have a fee schedule for mass filings, then
the claims must proceed in court.
If a decision is issued stating that applicable law precludes
enforcement of any of this subsection's limitations as to a
given claim for relief, then the claim must be severed from the
arbitration and brought into the State or Federal Courts located
in Travis County, Texas. All other claims shall be arbitrated.
This subsection does not prevent you or Fydinn from
participating in a class-wide settlement of claims.
8. Mass Filings. If, at any time, 30 or more
similar demands for arbitration are asserted against Fydinn or
related parties by the same or coordinated counsel or entities,
or if Fydinn asserts 30 or more similar demands for arbitration
or counterclaims against similarly-situated parties, within a
period of 60 days or otherwise close in proximity ("Mass
Filing"), the additional protocols set forth below shall apply:
Acknowledgment of Mass Filing protocols. If you
or Fydinn, or your or our counsel, files a demand for
arbitration that fits within the definition of Mass Filing
referred to above, then you and we agree that the demand for
arbitration shall be subject to the additional protocols set
forth in this Mass Filings subsection. If the parties disagree
as to whether a series of filings fits within the definition of
Mass Filing above, the arbitration provider shall resolve the
disagreement. You and we also acknowledge that the adjudication
of the dispute may be delayed and that any applicable statute of
limitations shall be tolled from the time of filing of the
demand for arbitration, and pending resolution of the bellwether
proceedings.
Bellwether Arbitrations. Bellwether proceedings
are encouraged by courts and arbitration administrators where
there are multiple disputes involving similar claims against the
same or related parties. The parties shall select ten individual
arbitration claims (five per side), designated the "Initial Test
Cases," to proceed to arbitration. Only the Initial Test Cases
shall be filed with the arbitrator. All other claims shall be
held in abeyance. This means that the filing fees will be paid
only for the Initial Test Cases; for all other demands for
arbitration in a Mass Filing, the filing fees (together with any
arbitrator consideration of the other demands) will be in
abeyance, and neither You nor Fydinn will be required to pay any
such filing fees. You and Fydinn also agree that neither you nor
we shall be deemed to be in breach of this Arbitration Agreement
for failure to pay any such filing fees, and that neither you
nor we shall be entitled to any contractual, statutory, or other
remedies, damages, or sanctions of any kind for failure to pay
any such filing fees. If, pursuant to this subsection, a party
files non-Bellwether Arbitrations with the arbitration provider,
the parties agree that the arbitration provider shall hold those
demands in abeyance and not refer them to the arbitrator pending
resolution of the Initial Test Cases. Unless the claims are
resolved in advance or the schedule is extended, the arbitrators
will render a final award for the Initial Test Cases within 120
days of the initial pre-hearing conference.
Global Mediation. Following the resolution of
the Initial Test Cases, the parties agree to engage in a global
mediation of all the remaining individual arbitration claims
comprising the Mass Filing ("Global Mediation"), deferring any
filing costs associated with the non-Initial Test Cases until
the Initial Test Cases and subsequent Global Mediation have
concluded. After the final awards are provided to the mediator
in the Initial Test Cases, the mediator and the parties shall
have 90 days to agree upon a substantive methodology and make an
offer to resolve the outstanding cases. If the Parties are
unable to resolve the outstanding claims during the Global
Mediation, the Parties may choose to opt out of the arbitration
process and proceed in court with the remaining claims. Notice
of the opt-out shall be provided in writing within 60 days of
the close of the Global Mediation. Absent notice of an opt-out,
the arbitrations may then be filed and administered by the
arbitration provider pursuant to this Agreement's Batch
Arbitration provision below and the arbitrator's fee schedule
for mass filings as described in Subsection 14(7) above, unless
the parties mutually agree otherwise in writing. You and we also
acknowledge that any applicable statute of limitations shall be
tolled pending resolution of the global mediation process.
Batch Arbitration. To increase the efficiency
of administration and resolution of arbitrations, you and Fydinn
agree that in the event a Mass Filing is not resolved by the
Bellwether Arbitration and Global Mediation processes described
above, the arbitration provider will (1) administer the
remaining arbitration demands in batches of 100 demands per
batch; (2) appoint one arbitrator for each batch; and (3)
provide for the resolution of each batch as a single
consolidated arbitration with one set of filing and
administrative fees due per side per batch, one procedural
calendar, one hearing (if any) in a place to be determined by
the arbitrator, and one final award ("Batch Arbitration"). If
the arbitration provider will not administer the Batch
Arbitration with one set of filing and administrative fees due
per side per batch, then the arbitration provider's mass
arbitration fee schedule shall apply.
Enforcement of Subsection. A Court of competent
jurisdiction located in a venue allowed under Section 18 of the
Terms and Conditions shall have the power to enforce this
subsection.
9. Offer of Judgment. At least 14 days before
the date set for the arbitration hearing, any party may serve an
offer in writing upon the other party to allow judgment on
specified terms. If the offer made by one party is not accepted
by the other party, and the other party fails to obtain a
favorable award, the other party shall not recover any
post-offer costs to which they otherwise would be entitled and
shall pay the offering party's costs from the time of the offer.
10. Opt-Out. Updates to Fydinn's Terms do not
provide a new opportunity for you to opt out of arbitration if
you previously agreed to a prior version of Fydinn's Terms
containing an arbitration provision and did not validly opt out
of arbitration.
Previous or existing users. Users who
previously agreed to arbitrate may reject this updated
Arbitration Agreement by following the opt-out method below, but
such users will still be bound by the most recent prior version
of the Arbitration Agreement and will otherwise be bound by
these Terms. Previous or existing users who do not opt out of
this updated Arbitration Agreement will be bound by this
Arbitration Agreement and it shall apply to all disputes between
such users and Fydinn, including those arising (but not actually
filed in arbitration) before the effective date of these Terms.
Arbitration demands that have already been actually filed with
an arbitration provider before the effective date of this
Arbitration Agreement and in compliance with a prior version of
this Arbitration Agreement are subject to the prior version's
terms.
New users. Users who create a Fydinn account
for the first time on or after July 24, 2023 may opt out of this
Arbitration Agreement.
Method and impact of opting out. Subject to the
above, you may opt out of this Arbitration Agreement by sending
written notice of your decision to opt out to:
Fydinnoptout@Fydinn.com, within 31 days after first becoming
subject to this Arbitration Agreement. Your notice must include
your name, your Fydinn username (if any), the email address
and/or phone number you used to set up your Fydinn account (if
you have one), and an unequivocal statement that you want to opt
out of this Arbitration Agreement. If you opt out of this
Arbitration Agreement, all other parts of the Terms and any
other agreements between you and Fydinn will continue to apply
to you. Opting out of this Arbitration Agreement has no effect
on any other arbitration agreements that you may currently have,
or may enter in the future, with us.
11. Severability. Except as provided in
subsection 14(7), if any part or parts of this Arbitration
Agreement are found under the law to be invalid or
unenforceable, then such specific part or parts shall be of no
force and effect and shall be severed and the remainder of the
Arbitration Agreement shall continue in full force and effect.
If a court decides that any of the provisions in the Arbitration
Agreement above is invalid or unenforceable because it would
prevent the exercise of a non-waivable right to pursue public
injunctive relief, then any dispute regarding the entitlement to
such relief (and only that relief) must be severed from
arbitration and may be litigated in court. All other disputes
subject to arbitration under the terms of the Arbitration
Agreement shall be arbitrated under its terms.
12. Survival of Agreement. The terms of this
Arbitration Agreement will continue, even after your
relationship with Fydinn has ended.