This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Back in March, a class-action lawsuit brought against Nintendo over the notorious issue of Joy-Con drift was sent to arbitration, with the judge refusing to dismiss the case against Nintendo’s wishes. Now, another case has gone a similar way.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman has ruled that an arbitrator must decide whether the case brought by Zachary Vergara belongs in court, or whether it’s covered by the end-user licence agreement entered into by Vegara when he purchased a Switch.

Vegara’s case alleges “violations of consumer protection laws, breach of warranty and unjust enrichment” thanks to the fault, which “causes the joystick to activate or drift on its own without the user actually manipulating the joystick.”

Judge Feinerman stated that:

“Vergara correctly observes that a party cannot be required to arbitrate a dispute that he has not agreed to submit to arbitration. That principle, however, does not mandate that the court, rather than the arbitrator, decide whether his claims must be arbitrated. By entering into an arbitration agreement that incorporates the AAA Rules, the parties delegated to the arbitrator the question whether Vergara's claims must be arbitrated.”

Nintendo had requested the case go to arbitration due to the end-licence user agreement in place, so it’s a positive step for them. However, the Judge Feinerman did note that the case can return to court should arbitration conclude in Vegara’s favour.

We’ll keep you posted of any further developments.

Source: Nintendo Life