APPEALS COURT BALANCES DEFERENCE TO ARBITRATOR WITH LESS STRINGENT STANDARDS FOR PRO SE PARTIES
The plaintiff, Sandra Parker, brought an employment discrimination suit against her employer, J.C. Penney, which moved to arbitrate the case. Plaintiff proceeded pro se in the arbitration, after her counsel filed a motion to withdraw. The arbitrator found in favor of J.C. Penney. The plaintiff moved to vacate the award in federal district court. The court denied vacatur and confirmed the arbitrator’s award. The plaintiff appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Citing competing constraints of “exceedingly deferential” review of an arbitrator’s award, while nonetheless “liberally” construing a pro se litigant’s brief and generally applying a less stringent standard to parties proceeding pro se than to parties represented by counsel, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, holding that plaintiff failed to demonstrate any of the bases for vacatur provided for in the FAA. Parker v. J.C. Penney Corporation, Inc., No. 10-40280 (5th Cir. May 20, 2011).
This post written by John Pitblado.
