Opinion ID: 2453369
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 11

Heading: Extraterritorial application of Washington's CPA

Text: ¶ 47 Holding that a nationwide class cannot be maintained in this case, the majority does not reach the issue of the CPA's extraterritorial application. Majority at 136-37 n.4. Because I would hold that a class could be maintained, a brief discussion of the CPA's application is warranted. ¶ 48 The trial court and the Court of Appeals agreed that the Washington CPA was applicable to the nationwide class because AT & T is headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Washington regulates the behavior of Washington businesses; the purpose of the CPA is not only to protect the public from unfair and deceptive acts, but also to foster fair and honest competition among businesses. RCW 19.86.920. If a Washington business is acting in an unfair or dishonest way nationwide, Washington has a strong interest to address the full, nationwide effects of that behavior; Washington should not become a harbor for businesses engaging in unscrupulous practices out of state. See Hangman Ridge, 105 Wash.2d at 785, 719 P.2d 531 (`The CPA, on its face, shows a carefully drafted attempt to bring within its reaches every person who conducts unfair or deceptive acts or practices in any trade or commerce.' (quoting Short v. Demopolis, 103 Wash.2d 52, 61, 691 P.2d 163 (1984))). At least one partyAT & Tis native to Washington in every transaction here. The transactions involve AT & T's formulation of its representations, [7] the approval and distribution of those representations, and the offer and acceptance of the agreements. [8] Significant portions of each transaction occurred in Washington. [9] ¶ 49 The statutory language of the CPA applies to transactions between a Washington party and an out-of-state party in two ways here. RCW 19.86.020 requires that the [u]nfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices must be in the conduct of any trade or commerce.  (Emphasis added.) Commerce under the CPA is described as any commerce directly or indirectly affecting the people of the state of Washington. RCW 19.86.010(2) (emphasis added). Person is defined to include natural persons, corporations, trusts, unincorporated associations and partnerships. RCW 19.86.010(1) (emphasis added). Thus, the transaction here is commerce that directly... affect[s] AT & T, a corporation headquartered in Washington and thus a person under the CPA. The CPA therefore applies. ¶ 50 Furthermore, RCW 19.86.010(2) also encompasses commerce that indirectly affects the people of the state of Washington. AT & T's exchange of goods and services with individuals outside the state of Washington is still commerce that indirectly affects Washingtonians. First, the Washington employees of AT & T are natural persons, RCW 19.86.010(1), and AT & T's commerce with the claimants indirectly affects the nature and availability of their employment. Second, to the extent the people of the state of Washington, RCW 19.86.010(2), is read as a broader appeal to the public interest, the commerce and trade AT & T brings into Washington, and the alleged unfair and dishonest method by which it does so, affects the state economy and thus affects the Washington public at large. ¶ 51 The transactions here, between a Washington resident and out-of-state customers, originating at least in part in this state, fall well within the jurisdictional boundaries of the CPA. [10] The CPA encompasses the nationwide class action proposed here.