LuLaRoe
July 31, 2023
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on July 31, 2023 reversed and remanded district-court orders compelling arbitration and confirming an arbitration award in Jessica Ponkey v. LLR, Inc., a putative class action against LuLaRoe and related entities. The panel held the arbitration agreement unenforceable under California's unconscionability sliding-scale test.
The court cited oppressive procedural terms and substantive one-sided provisions, including confidentiality, fee-waiver and arbitration-exemption features that favored the company, and concluded the offending terms could not be severed to preserve the agreement. The ruling returns the dispute to federal court rather than binding arbitration.
LuLaRoe is a multilevel marketer of women's clothing sold through independent retailers; the Npros directory lists the company as LuLaRoe.