24. Disputes
PLEASE READ THIS SECTION CAREFULLY. IT MAY SIGNIFICANTLY AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS, INCLUDING YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A LAWSUIT IN COURT OR TO PURSUE CLAIMS IN A CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY.
(a) Applicability of this Dispute Resolution Policy. These Terms of Use are governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law. To the fullest extent allowed by applicable law, you and we agree to submit all Disputes (defined below) between us to individual, binding arbitration pursuant to the provisions in this “Dispute Resolution” Section. A “Dispute” means any dispute, claim, or controversy (except those specifically exempted below) between you and us that in any way relates to or arises from any aspect of our relationship, including, without limitation, your use or attempted use of the Website, your relationship with us, and all matters relating to or arising from these Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, or any other agreement between you and us, including the validity and enforceability of this agreement to arbitrate. A Dispute shall be subject to binding, individual arbitration regardless of whether it is based in contract, statute, regulation, ordinance, tort (including fraud, misrepresentation, fraudulent inducement, or negligence), or any other legal or equitable theory. This includes claims that accrued before you agreed to these Terms of Use. You understand that there is no judge or jury in arbitration and that court review of an arbitration award is limited.
(b) Informal Dispute Resolution. Our customer support department is available at Contact Us to address any concerns you may have regarding our products or the Website. Most concerns are quickly resolved in this manner to our customers’ satisfaction. In an effort to accelerate resolution and reduce the cost of any Dispute between us, you and we agree to personally meet and confer telephonically or via videoconference in a good faith effort to resolve informally any Dispute prior to either party initiating a lawsuit or arbitration (“Informal Dispute Resolution Conference”). If you are represented by counsel, your counsel may participate in the conference, but you will also participate in the conference, as will at least one of our corporate representatives. The party initiating a Dispute must give notice to the other party in writing of its intent to initiate an Informal Dispute Resolution Conference (“Notice”), which shall occur within 60 days after the other party receives such Notice, unless an extension is mutually agreed upon by the parties. The Informal Dispute Resolution Conference shall be individualized such that a separate conference must be held each time either party sends a Notice, even if the same law firm or group of law firms represents multiple users in similar cases; unless all parties agree, multiple individuals initiating a Dispute cannot participate in the same Informal Dispute Resolution Conference. If we have a Dispute with you, we will send Notice of that Dispute to your billing address and/or email address you have provided to us. If you have a Dispute with us, you will send Notice to us in writing at the following email address: legal@signetjewelers.com, using the subject line “Informal Dispute Resolution Conference.” Your Notice must be individual to you and must include, as applicable, your name, email address, and your residential address. The Notice also must describe the Dispute, explain the facts of the Dispute as you understand them, and tell us what you want us to do to resolve the problem. A notice of Dispute will not be valid, will not commence the time period for the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference, and will not allow you or us later to initiate a lawsuit or arbitration, unless it contains all of the information required by this paragraph. Engaging in the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference is a mandatory condition precedent and requirement that must be fulfilled before commencing arbitration. If either of us commences an arbitration without having previously provided a valid and compliant Notice, you and we agree that the applicable arbitration provider (or the arbitrator, if one has been appointed) must suspend the arbitration until the party that initiated it participated in an Informal Dispute Resolution Conference after sending Notice as required by this paragraph. If either party violates this Initial Dispute Resolution paragraph, a court of competent jurisdiction has the authority to enjoin the prosecution of the arbitration or court proceeding, and, unless prohibited by law, the arbitration provider shall neither accept nor administer any such arbitration nor assess fees in connection with such arbitration. The statute of limitations and all filing fee deadlines shall be tolled while the parties engage in the Informal Dispute Resolution Conference process required by this paragraph.
(c) Binding Arbitration. If a Dispute cannot be resolved through negotiations during the Initial Dispute Resolution Conference, then either you or we may elect to have the Dispute finally and exclusively resolved by binding arbitration, unless an exception applies as stated below under “Exceptions.” Except in the event of a Mass Arbitration (as defined below), the arbitration will be administered by JAMS in accordance with the JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules and Procedures (the “JAMS Rules”) effective as of the date of the Notice of Dispute, which are available at the JAMS website, http://www.jamsadr.com/rules-streamlined-arbitration, as modified by these Terms of Use.
Arbitration hearings may be conducted by videoconference unless the arbitrator believes an in-person hearing is necessary. In such instances, the location of an arbitration hearing will be decided pursuant to the JAMS Rules.
The arbitrator shall be empowered to grant whatever relief would be available in a court under law or in equity. The arbitrator will make a decision in writing but need not provide a statement of reasons unless requested by a party. The arbitrator must follow applicable law. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding on you and us, and any award of the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction.
The arbitrator shall determine the scope and enforceability of this arbitration agreement, including whether a Dispute is subject to arbitration, except as set forth in the “Exceptions” section below. The arbitrator has authority to decide all issues of validity, enforceability or arbitrability, including, but not limited to, where a party raises as a defense that any portion of this agreement is not enforceable, subject to the “Exceptions” section below.
If a lawsuit filed in court includes claims or requests for relief that are arbitrable and claims or requests for relief that are not, you and we agree that any non-arbitrable claims or requests for relief shall be stayed pending the completion of the arbitration of the arbitrable claims or requests for relief.
Your and our right to recover attorneys’ fees, costs and arbitration fees shall be governed by the laws that apply to the parties’ dispute, as well as any applicable arbitration rules.
(d) Exceptions.
- Exception: Intellectual Property, Trade Secret, and Moral Rights Claims. Notwithstanding the parties’ decision to resolve all disputes through arbitration, either party may bring an action in state or federal court that only asserts claims for patent infringement or invalidity, copyright infringement, piracy, moral rights violations, trademark infringement, and/or trade secret misappropriation. Such claims are subject to the jurisdiction and applicable law provisions below.
- Exception: Small Claims Court. Either party may also seek relief in a small claims court for any individual disputes or claims within the scope of that court's jurisdiction. If an arbitration is filed, before the arbitrator is formally appointed either party can send written notice to the opposing party and the applicable arbitration provider that it wants the case decided by a small claims court, after which the arbitration provider shall close the case (with no fees due or payable by either party to the arbitration provider). Any dispute about whether a claim qualifies for small claims court will be resolved by that court, not by the arbitrator. Seeking such relief shall not waive a party’s right to arbitration under this agreement, and any filed arbitrations related to any action filed pursuant to this paragraph shall automatically be stayed (with no fees due or payable by either party to the arbitration provider) pending the outcome of such action.
- Exception – Mass Arbitration Before NAM. Notwithstanding the parties’ decision to have arbitrations administered by JAMS, if 25 or more demands for arbitration are filed relating to the same or similar subject matter and sharing common issues of law or fact, and counsel for the parties submitting the demands are the same or coordinated, you and we agree that this will constitute a “Mass Arbitration.” If a Mass Arbitration is commenced, you and we agree that it shall not be governed by JAMS Rules or administered by JAMS. Instead, a Mass Arbitration shall be administered by NAM, a nationally recognized arbitration provider, and governed by the NAM Rules in effect when the Mass Arbitration is filed, excluding any rules that permit arbitration on a class-wide basis (the “NAM Rules”), and under the rules set forth in these Terms of Use. The NAM Rules are available at https://namadr.com/resources/rules-fees-forms/or by calling 1-800-358-2550. You and we agree that the Mass Arbitration shall be resolved using NAM’s Mass Filing Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures, available at https://www.namadr.com/. Before any Mass Arbitration is filed with NAM, you and we agree to contact NAM jointly to advise that the parties intend to use NAM’s Mass Filing Supplemental Dispute Resolution Rules and Procedures. The individual demands comprising the Mass Arbitration shall be submitted on NAM’s claim form(s) and as directed by NAM. You and we agree that if either party fails or refuses to commence the Mass Arbitration before NAM rather than JAMS, you or we may seek an order from JAMS compelling compliance and directing administration of the Mass Arbitration before NAM. Pending resolution of any such requests, you and we agree that all arbitrations comprising the Mass Arbitration (and any obligation to pay arbitration fees) shall be stayed. If for any reason the provisions in this paragraph are found to be unenforceable, or if for any reason NAM declines to administer the Mass Arbitration, then the Disputes comprising the Mass Arbitration shall be administered by the AAA consistent with the provisions of the Dispute Resolution Section of these Terms of Use and in accordance with AAA Rules in effect when the Mass Arbitration is filed, including the AAA Supplementary Rules for Multiple Case Filings, available at https://adr.org.
(e) Class and Collective Action Waiver. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW, YOU AND WE AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING DISPUTES AGAINST THE OTHER PARTY ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A CLASS ACTION OR CLASS ARBITRATION, OR AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL. To the extent applicable law does not permit waiver of private attorney general claims, but permits them to be arbitrated, then such claims shall be resolved in arbitration. The arbitrator shall be empowered to grant whatever relief would be available in a court under law or in equity.
Although the parties have agreed that no disputes may proceed as part of a class arbitration, you and we agree that the JAMS may consolidate an individual arbitration filed under these Terms of Use with other individual arbitration(s), at the request of any party, if the arbitrations share any common issues of law or fact. The consolidation issue shall be determined by the arbitrator appointed for the earliest filed arbitration. Any disputes over whether an arbitration claim should be consolidated with others, or which arbitrator shall hear any consolidated matter, shall be resolved by JAMS.
(f) Dispute Resolution: Severance. If any provision in this Dispute Resolution Section of these Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable, that provision shall be severed with the remainder of this Dispute Resolution Section of these Terms of Use remaining in full force and effect. The foregoing shall not apply to the prohibition against class or collective actions as provided for above. This means that if the prohibition against class or collective actions is found to be unenforceable for any reason, the entire Dispute Resolution Section of these Terms of Use (but only the Dispute Resolution Section) shall be null and void.
(g) 30 Day Right to Opt Out: You have the right to opt-out and not be bound by the arbitration agreement and class action waiver provisions in this Dispute Resolution Section by sending written notice of your decision to opt-out to the following email address: legal@signejewelers.com using the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out.” The notice must be sent within 30 days of the date on which you first access or use the Site and agree to these terms; otherwise you shall be bound to arbitrate disputes in accordance with the terms of this Dispute Resolution Section. If you opt-out of these arbitration provisions, we also will not be bound by them.
(h) Governing Law and Jurisdiction
Any dispute or claim relating in any way to these Terms of Use or previous versions of these Terms of Use, your use of the Website, or any products or services sold or distributed by Company or through the Website, shall be governed by and construed in accordance the laws of the State of Ohio without regard to the principles of conflicts of law.
Unless you and we agree otherwise, in the event that the Agreement to Arbitrate above is found not to apply to you or to a particular claim or dispute, any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms of Use or previous versions of these Terms of Use, your use of the Website, or any products or services sold or distributed by Company or through the Website, shall be instituted exclusively in the federal or state courts located in Summit County, State of Ohio. You agree to waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
