does anyone want to join me in an class action lawsuit vs airbnb?

Kai32
Level 4
New York, NY

does anyone want to join me in an class action lawsuit vs airbnb?

It appears that their penalities are quite predatory, and seems like they will offer these "helpful" suggestions to get more booking such as instant booking.  What they bank on is that the hosts forget to turn it off, despite notifying the customers right away.  Furthermore, no one at Airbnb appears they want to help and theres never seem to be supervisor around when I ask to speak with management.  This has to be a predatory practice somehow and I think we should join forces to make our voices heard.

250 Replies 250

@Sarah977 

If I recall correctly, Airbnb's guy was a rookie, not long graduated from Law School, and this was his first District Court appearance. 

 

He was also a near-neighbour of Jeannette's, and I believe they both walk their dogs in the same park. She did say she had every intention of greeting him in a friendly manner next time they bumped into each other, and that they were no hard feelings. The man was only doing his job, after all 🙂

 

And yes, the judge was absolutely gobsmacked that Airbnb are getting away with forcing people to accept such questionable terms and conditions. But accept them, we do..

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17   @John1574 

 

Having a french/english/spanish/german  website summing up court decisions around the world in favor of hosts (either against AirBnb or against guests ) on the one hand  and  in favor of guests (against hosts or AirBnb ) on the other hand,   would be a nice tool to help people realize that they are not obliged to  swallow the bitter pill of decisions taken by AirBnb Litigation service. 

@Denis227 

Not a bad idea at all..  

Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

@Denis227 

Ok, firstly - Airbnb's arbitration and class action waiver clauses, in relation to the US. 

 

Probably the most high-profile instance of a member (unsuccessfully) challenging these clauses was the 2016 case of Gregory Selden, who attempted to create a class action case against Airbnb, on the grounds of discrimination. Note: at the very same time as Airbnb were forcing all hosts to sign their shiny new Non-Discrimination Charter, and were loudly and proudly briefing the world's media on how inclusive, diverse and welcoming their platform truly is, the company was simultaneously moving heaven and earth to deny Mr Selden his right to a fair hearing in court (despite the fact that he had solid evidence to suggest that he had indeed been a victim of discrimination on the Airbnb platform)

 

Federal Judge Upholds Airbnb Arbitration Clause In Racial Bias Case 

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2016/11/02/431272.htm

 

In May 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that companies could continue to use arbitration clauses, causing Brian T Fitzpatrick, a law professor at Vanderbilt University, and an expert in arbitration and class action to state...

"It is only a matter of time until the most powerful device to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds is lost altogether.”

 

Supreme Court Upholds Arbitration Contacts Barring Class Actions

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/21/business/supreme-court-upholds-workplace-arbitration-contracts.ht...

 

Then on 1 November 2018, thousands of Google employees staged a mass walkout demanding the company overhaul its policies for handling workplace sexual harassment following several high-profile scandals. A week later, the company bowed to demands and vowed to end its practice of mandatory arbitration in relation to such issues. In the following days, Facebook, eBay and Airbnb followed suit, after coming under increasing pressure from a number of interested parties, and facing a backlash on social media. Airbnb stated that it would now allow employees to take class action lawsuits, on the grounds of sexual harassment and discrimination, but guests and hosts would still be bound by arbitration. 

 

Big Tech and Big Law Face Pushback on Mandatory Arbitration In Wake Of #MeToo

https://www.ibanet.org/Article/NewDetail.aspx?ArticleUid=41ff179d-4257-4ff0-a012-a6adfdc996f8

 

However, the battle to outlaw forced arbitration continues, on the grounds that private arbitration allows companies to hide misconduct that would otherwise be made public in court; arbitrators are much more likely than jurors to rule in favour of employers; and arbitrators are far less likely than jurors to give adequate monetary awards to workers/consumers when they find a company at fault for breaking the law. 

 

Last year, Vox analyzed the data  published by the American Arbitration Association, the largest arbitration organization in the US - and Airbnb's arbitration firm of choice - which handles about 50 percent of all employment cases. The data showed that the firm handled 8,209 complaints filed by employees bound by mandatory arbitration agreements between 2013 and 2017, arbitrators awarded monetary damages to the workers in only 1.8 percent of those cases. 

 

Things are definitely looking up though. On September 20th of this year (2019), lawmakers in the US voted 225-186 to pass the Forced Arbitration Injustice Repeal (FAIR) Act, a far-reaching bill that bans companies from requiring workers and consumers to resolve legal disputes in private arbitration — regarded by many as a quasi-legal forum with no judge, no jury, and practically no government oversight. While the bill is widely expected to face resistance from Republicans in the Senate, the fact that it even made it through the House (after a similar bill failed just a year ago), signals a long-overdue change in attitude to both employee and consumer rights, when dealing with big corporations. At the very least, it's a major step in the right direction.. 

 

The FAIR Act Would Ban Forced Arbitration. That's A Big Deal. 

https://www.vox.com/identities/2019/9/20/20872195/forced-mandatory-arbitration-bill-fair-act

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

 @Susan17

 

Hum . Interesting. Never heard about this  before.  It would seem  american citizens  are now paying the price for those  gigantic penalties paid by  Big Corporations as a result of successful class action lawsuits.

 

So gigantic indeed ,  that the echo of the victory made a real fuss in France and definitely delayed its adoption by  french law ! 

 

It would seem Big Corp are now fighting back with class waivers and arbitrage of all sorts. 

Really bad luck for consumers  ! 

 

For the discrimation case,  the plaintiff has  my sympathy . However I have to admit that i can hardly see  how a company's customer can hold this company responsible for racial discrimination by another customer of the same company ! If the host was employed by AIrBnb I would understand, but this is not the case. 

 

That defies (my)  understanding ....  

 

Had this  plaintiff been  allowed to proceed, hundreds of thousands of afro-americans would suddently spend hours  on AirBnb until they manage to find a host to elicit  their own discrimination !    

 

IMHO , the Judge had to find a way out of this legal trap.

In so doing he had to sacrifice all logic and to cluntch to whatever straws he could find.

 

The fact that the Judge was also an Afro American makes his judgment all the more shakespearean  ! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Susan17
Level 10
Dublin, Ireland

@Denis227 

Now, as regards Airbnb's arbitration and class action clauses, in relation to European users... 

 

Quite frankly, it's all bollocks. European users absolutely do have the right to bring a case against Airbnb before the courts in their country of residence. 

 

EU Press Release July 11, 2019

EU Consumer Rules: Airbnb Cooperates With European Commission and EU Consumer Authorities. 

https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/IP_19_3990

 

Airbnb also revised its terms of service in which it:

  • makes clear that users can bring a case against Airbnb before the courts of their country of residence;
  • respects users' basic legal rights to sue a host in case of personal harm or other damages;
  • commits not to unilaterally change the terms and conditions without clearly informing users in advance and without giving them the possibility to cancel the contract.

 

I wouldn't agree at all  that Airbnb makes it clear - in fact, the Nov 1 Updated Terms of Service is by far the most convoluted, confusing and head-wrecking version that I've ever had the misfortune of trying to plough through and decipher - but it's there in black and white in the EU document anyway. 

 

The EU also ordered Airbnb to include an easily accessible link to its Online Dispute Resolution platform on its website, and all the necessary information related to dispute resolution. However, in true Airbnb fashion, they had to add their own little caveat... 

 

You can access the European Commission’s online dispute resolution platform here:  http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Please note that Airbnb is not committed nor obliged to use an alternative dispute resolution entity to resolve disputes with consumers.

 

There's also at least one team of international lawyers working out of Europe at the moment, that have been taking unresolved disputes to Airbnb for the past number of months (on a no win, no fee basis), on behalf of both hosts and guests who feel they've been screwed over by the company. From what I'm hearing, they're having quite the degree of success too. 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR


@Susan17 wrote:

 

There's also at least one team of international lawyers working out of Europe at the moment, that have been taking unresolved disputes to Airbnb for the past number of months (on a no win, no fee basis), on behalf of both hosts and guests who feel they've been screwed over by the company. From what I'm hearing, they're having quite the degree of success too. 

 

 

Interesting. Do you know who they are ? Any website I can recommend to french hosts ? 


 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17 

 

Is this the international lawyers team you are mentionning ? 

 

https://fairbnbclaim.com/ref/3/?campaign=Sidebar

 

I just noticed they are based Gafa's fiscal paradise. 

Could it be that you have insider information ?  

Let me know when we can have cofee together    :-)) 

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17

 

This reminds me that a couple of years ago, when I wrote this very long article on the dangers of  NOT being able to  smell gas in your house ( or not smelling gas at all ) : 

 

https://adecopro.wordpress.com/accidentologie-domestique/danger-gaz-sans-odeur/

 

for the website of my consumer association,   I was helped by an american paralegal ( seems to be a feminine profession ) who shared my interest  for the  fascinating and complex topic of  "odor fading"  mechanisms, whether of a pathological or of a  physiological nature. 

 

 

Interesting article @Denis227. I'm pretty sure my teenage boy suffers from anosmia too - he's definitely "nose blind" when it comes to his bedroom.. 🙂

Denis227
Level 10
La Boissière-École, FR

@Susan17 

We are used  to stand our own odor in varying degrees of concentration. It's the other's odor which is not always easy to bear.  🙂

@Denis227 

That's the one. I didn't want to mention the name, because there's a whole lot more to that story than meets the eye too, which I can't get into here. 

 

But.. the fine legal professionals on the frontline, actually taking the cases to Airbnb (and who, to the best of my knowledge, are completely unaware of the backstory), have definitely been getting good results for their clients - both hosts and guests - who have been wronged by the company, and I guess that's the most important thing, so I'll hold my counsel, for now. 

 

And yes, they're based in GAFA's fiscal paradise (sore subject!!) Well, technically, they're based here anyway. Surely it should be spelled "GAFAA" now though..  😉

 

At least your Bruno Le Maire threw a little spanner in the works with his GAFA tax (although at 3%, it's quite lenient in comparison to the 5% and 7% levies being introduced in 2020 by Austria and the Czech Republic, respectively). True to form though,  Amazon has already chosen to pass on the costs to the SMEs using its services. And Finland, Sweden and - of course! - Ireland, have raised  strong objections to a similar levy being imposed across all member states. Bloody typical. 

 

On the plus side, EU anti-trust boss and Silicon Valley's tormentor-in-chief, Margrethe Vestager, has recently been appointed as the EU Commission's Executive VP  for Digital Policy, as well as re-elected for a second 5 year term as Commissioner for Competition - only this time round, she has vast, unprecedented new powers. That lady has balls of steel when it comes to taking Big Corp/Big Tech to task. Let's hope her herculean efforts to curb corporate abuses and excesses, don't get too bogged down by the notorious EU bureaucracy

Holly395
Level 2
Painted Post, NY

My mom and I booked an air bnb for a week . The host allowed us to bring our cat, however because his big ass dog didn't like the cat, he kicked us out and kept our money. Lame!

interested

I would likeep to join in a class suit