ARBITRATION ROUNDUP
Class Arbitration
Sutter v. Oxford Health Plans, LLC, Case No. 10-04903 (USDC D.N.J. Feb. 25, 2011) (class arbitration was still required following the Supreme Court’s Stolt-Nielson decision, notwithstanding the omission of the words “class action” in the parties’ arbitration agreement because the arbitrator had determined that the agreement unambiguously expressed the parties’ intent to authorize class arbitration).
Interim Awards
Draeger Safety Diagnostics, Inc. v. New Horizon Interlock, Inc., Case No. 11-mc-50160 (USDC E.D. Mich. Feb. 14, 2011) (confirming interim award for emergency relief ordering defendant to return records, data, and reports; claim was ripe because the plaintiff was likely to be harmed absent confirmation; court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to confirm non-final award of fees because the claim was not ripe).
Arbitrator Disqualification
O’Dowd v. Hardy, No. G04308 (Cal. Ct. App. Feb. 24, 2011) (defendant’s counsel’s letter to arbitrator, copied to plaintiff’s counsel, containing negative statements about plaintiff did not warrant arbitrator disqualification).
Notice Issues
Selective Ins. Co. v. Coach Leasing, Inc., No. A-4007-06T2 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. June 16, 2008) (reversing orders vacating arbitration awards and remanding for entry of judgment enforcing awards; notifying defendant’s third-party administrator of the arbitration was sufficient notice under the parties’ agreement and New Jersey statute).
Exceeding Authority; Manifest Disregard for the Law
CCent. Mont. Rail v. BNSF Ry. Co., No. 05-00116 (9th Cir. Mar. 18, 2011) (affirming the district court’s confirmation of an arbitration award because the conditions for vacatur were not met; the arbitrators had not exceeded their authority nor manifestly disregarded the law).
Ameser v. Nordstrom, Inc., Case No. 09-0395 (USDC N.D. Tex. Mar. 14, 2011) (denying motion to vacate award; movant failed to demonstrate that the arbitrator was partial, exceeded her powers, demonstrated manifest disregarded for the law, or that the award was obtained by undue means).
Harrell & Owens Farm v. Fed. Crop Ins. Corp., Case No. 09-217 (USDC E.D.N.C. Mar. 23, 2011) (denying motion to vacate award and confirming award; arbitrator did not exceed the scope of his authority by purportedly failing to follow a government agency’s binding interpretation of an insurance policy; award did not fail to draw its essence from the arbitration agreement).
IFA Ins. Co. v. Am. Trucking & Transp. Ins. Co., No. A-1845-09T2 (N.J. Super. Ct. App. Div. Mar. 22, 2011) (affirming confirmation of arbitration award; failure of the arbitrator to apply comparative negligence principles did not warrant vacatur; the fact that the arbitration was court ordered and not by agreement of the parties did not alter the narrow scope of judicial review).
Timeliness Issues
Century Indem. Co. v. Clearwater Ins. Co., Case No. 11-1038 (USDC S.D.N.Y. Mar. 30, 2011) (confirming arbitration award because respondent failed to timely move to vacate, modify, or correct the award and finding no other basis for vacating the award).
Am. Ins. Managers, Inc. v. Guar. Ins. Co., Case No. 07-01615 (USDC D.S.C. Mar. 29, 2011) (motion to vacate or modify filed exactly three-months after delivery of the award was timely because the FAA and not state law governed the applicable statute of limitations; denying motion to vacate or modify; award was not “fundamentally unfair” or “irrational” and there was no “evident partiality” by the arbitrator).
This post written by Ben Seessel.
