Rollins, Inc. v. Foster

991 F.Supp. 1426 (M.D. Ala. 1998)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

Foster (D) contracted with Orkin (P) for spraying her trailer home for roaches. D told P that she only wanted three months worth of services. D was given a clipboard with a series of forms to sign. Some of the forms had writing on both sides but P did not show the other sides to D. D had only a ninth-grade education and could not understand some of the terms on the forms and D also claimed that the forms had blank spaces on them which were later filled in by P. D claims that P did not leave copies of forms and the actual contracted differed dramatically from what D had wanted; it was a two-year service contract instead of a three-month contract. The contract also included a credit agreement. There was also a mandatory arbitration clause in the agreement and that the arbitration shall be final, binding and nonappealable. The contract could also be assigned to Rollins Acceptance Company, an unincorporated division of P. Two weeks later services were performed, and P got payment from D. D then questioned the charges and then under alleged threats of garnishment, lawsuits, and adverse credit reports continued to make payments. D then filed suit against P and Rollins in state court for damages suffered as a result of the contract. D sought damages of $75,000 and alleged that the arbitration clause was procured by fraud, suppression and deceit. P then filed their petition in federal court to compel arbitration and stay the state court proceedings. D opposed that motion by alleging that the clause was obtained by deceit and that it was unconscionable.