Uber terms mean couple can’t sue after ‘life-changing’ crash

Arbitration clauses are “very common,” especially when dealing with large corporations, said Ted Spaulding, a personal injury lawyer based in the state of Georgia.

An arbitrator is “most often a lawyer who does this for a living,” he said, who can “act like a judge and a jury”.

They decide on an outcome after weighing up arguments from both sides, and their fee is often split between both parties.

In the US, the enforceability of arbitration clauses differs state by state.

In its case, Disney used the arbitration clause in their terms to argue that a man whose wife died at Disney World could not sue them in a court of law.

Jeffrey Piccolo filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Disney after his wife, Dr Kanokporn Tangsuan, died following an allergic reaction at a restaurant, run by a third party, at Disney World Florida in 2023.

Disney said Mr Piccolo had waived his right to a jury trial when he signed up to a free trial of Disney+ in 2019.

Disney later withdrew its claim to arbitration and opted to proceed with a jury trial after media coverage of the lawsuit.

“We believe this situation warrants a sensitive approach to expedite a resolution for the family who have experienced such a painful loss,” Disney executive Josh D’Amaro told the BBC in a statement in August.

Mr Spaulding says: “The law understandably says, ‘Look, you have the duty to know what you’re signing’,” referring to the terms and conditions people often accept when using a product or a service.

However, he says “the scope should be within the transaction that you’re agreeing to”.