ARBITRATION AWARDS UPHELD OVER CHALLENGES TO ARBITRATOR
Two recent decisions addressed requests to vacate arbitration awards due to concerns over arbitrator qualifications and bias. In Woods v. P.A.M. Transport, Inc., Case No. 07-605 (USDC N.D. Tex. Feb. 8, 2008), a motion was filed to vacate an arbitration award on the basis that the arbitrator failed to disclose that he had been removed from the American Arbitration Association's list of approved arbitrators. The court held that insufficient evidence was presented that the arbitrator was not sanctioned by the AAA, or that such facts, if true, justified vacation of the award under the FAA. The court also held that the moving party had not demonstrated that the award was in manifest disregard of law. In In re Aviles v. Allstate Ins. Co., Case No. 2007-6808 (N.Y. Sup. Ct. App. Div.), the court reversed an Order vacating an arbitration award on the basis that the arbitrator was biased. There was no transcript of the arbitration hearing available, and a clearly insufficient record to support a determination that the arbitrator was biased.
This post written by Rollie Goss.
