Acorn Dispute Resolution Agreement

1. Scope

This agreement is between Best Price LC, a Wyoming limited liability company doing business as Acorn ("Acorn"), and the customer or worker that accepts the Customer Terms or Worker Agreement that incorporates it ("you"). It is part of that agreement.

Except as stated in Section 6, you and Acorn agree to resolve by binding arbitration any dispute arising out of or relating to the Services, the Software, the network, your account or participation, payments or payouts, data handling, or the relationship between us, whether based on contract, tort, statute, or any other legal theory. This includes disputes about Acorn's affiliates, officers, employees, and agents acting in those roles. It does not apply to a dispute that was already filed or described in a written claim notice before you accepted this agreement.

The Federal Arbitration Act governs the interpretation and enforcement of this agreement.

2. Try to resolve it first

Before starting arbitration, the party with a claim must send a written notice describing the claim, the relief requested, and how to reach them. Send notices to Acorn at legal@acorncompute.com with the subject "Dispute notice". Acorn sends notices to your account email. Both parties will try in good faith to resolve the dispute for 30 days after the notice is received. Limitation periods are paused during those 30 days to the extent the law allows. Either party may file sooner to meet a deadline or seek urgent relief.

3. How arbitration works

The American Arbitration Association ("AAA") will administer the arbitration before a single neutral arbitrator. The AAA Commercial Arbitration Rules apply to disputes between businesses. Where AAA determines that a dispute with an individual worker falls under its Employment/Workplace or Consumer rules, those rules and their protections apply. The rules in effect when the claim is filed apply. They are available at adr.org, and Acorn will send a copy on request.

The arbitrator may award any individual relief a court could award under applicable law, will allow the information exchange needed to present the claims and defenses, and will issue a reasoned written decision. Hearings may be held by video or phone. An individual worker may ask for an in-person hearing in a location reasonably convenient to them and will not be required to travel to California. For other parties, the seat of arbitration is San Francisco, California. A court with jurisdiction may enter judgment on the award.

A court decides whether this agreement was formed, whether it is enforceable, and how Section 5 applies. The arbitrator decides all other issues, including the scope of arbitration.

4. Costs

Businesses pay arbitration fees as the AAA rules provide, unless the arbitrator reallocates them. For an individual worker, Acorn pays all fees the applicable rules or law require a company to pay, and the worker's filing fee will not exceed the fee to file the same claim in court. Acorn will pay its share of fees when due. Each party pays its own attorneys' fees unless the law or the incorporating agreement allows the arbitrator to award them. An individual will never be required to pay Acorn's arbitration costs or attorneys' fees for a statutory claim except where the statute allows.

5. Individual claims only

To the extent the law allows, you and Acorn may each bring claims against the other only individually, not as a plaintiff or class member in any class, collective, consolidated, or representative proceeding. The arbitrator may not consolidate claims of different parties or award relief to anyone not a party, unless all parties agree in writing after the dispute arises.

If many similar claims are filed at once, the AAA's mass arbitration procedures apply where the AAA determines their conditions are met. That coordination does not mean either party consents to class arbitration.

If a court finds this Section 5 unenforceable as to a particular claim or request for relief (for example, public injunctive relief), that claim or request will be severed and decided in court, after the individual arbitrable claims are resolved, and will not proceed in arbitration on a class basis. The rest of this agreement stays in effect.

6. Exceptions

Either party may:

• bring an individual claim in small claims court if it qualifies;
• ask a court for a temporary or preliminary order to protect data, confidential information, intellectual property, or evidence while arbitration is pending; and
• bring a claim the law does not allow to be arbitrated, including a claim covered by the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act that the person chooses to bring in court.

Nothing in this agreement prevents anyone from reporting to or cooperating with a government agency, filing an administrative charge, or making any disclosure the law protects.

7. Court

For disputes that proceed in court, the state courts in San Francisco County, California, and the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California have exclusive jurisdiction, unless the law requires another forum or the dispute is in small claims court. Both parties consent to personal jurisdiction there. California law governs as stated in the incorporating agreement.

8. Opting out (individual workers)

If you are an individual worker, you may opt out of this agreement within 30 days after you first accept it. Email legal@acorncompute.com from your account email address with the subject "Arbitration opt out", including your name and worker identifier and a statement that you opt out. No special form or reason is needed. We will confirm receipt. Opting out does not affect your participation or earnings; the rest of the Worker Agreement still applies, and disputes go to court under Section 7. Business customers and organizations enrolling devices do not have this opt-out unless a signed agreement gives them one.

9. Changes and survival

If we change this agreement, we will give notice and ask you to accept the new version. A change does not apply to a dispute already pending or noticed. If you opted out of an earlier version, your opt-out stays in effect unless you later expressly agree to arbitration.

If the AAA is unable or unwilling to administer the arbitration, the parties will agree on a substitute provider that applies equivalent protections, or a court will appoint one. If arbitration cannot proceed, the dispute will go to court under Section 7.

This agreement survives the end of your account or participation. Except as provided in Section 5, if any part of it is unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.