ARBITRATION AWARD ROUNDUP
Following is a roundup of recent opinions on motions concerning the confirmation, vacation and modification of arbitration awards, organized by the issues presented in the motions:
Manifest Disregard
New York City Dist. Council of Carpenters v. Dufour Group, Inc., No. 12-Civ-00173 (USDC S.D.N.Y. April 19, 2012) (granting petition to confirm, no manifest disregard, no evident partiality, proceeding was not “fundamentally unfair”)
Hargrove v. Citigroup, Inc., No. 1:11-cv-07946 (USDC S.D.N.Y. May 9, 2012) (denying petition to vacate, no manifest disregard in age discrimination case)
Broadnax v. LVI Demolition Services, Inc., No. 2:11-cv-03084 (USDC D.N.J. May 31, 2012) (granting motion to confirm award, finding arbitrator’s award in labor dispute was rationally related to Collective Bargaining Agreement, no manifest disregard).
Gomez v. People’s United Bank, No. 3:10-cv-00904 (USDC D. Conn. June 13, 2012) (granting motion to confirm, no manifest disregard in compensatory damages, punitive damages, and attorneys fee award against car dealer)
Failure to Hear Pertinent Evidence
Ace American Ins. Co. v. Christiana Insurance, LLC, No. 11 Civ. 8862 (USDC S.D.N.Y. April 12, 2012) (granting petition to confirm, arbitrators did not fail to hear pertinent and material evidence, proceeding was not “fundamentally unfair,” arbitrators did not exceed the scope of the submission, and there was no manifest disregard of the law)
Scope of Arbitration
Homesite Ins. Inc. v. Dhaliwal, No. A131226 (Cal. App. Ct. April 19, 2012) (affirming confirmation of award, arbitrator did not exceed powers, and correctly decided question concerning scope of arbitration)
Harrell and Owens Farm v. Federal Crop Ins. Corp., No. 11-1360 (4th Cir. April 18, 2012) (affirming confirmation of award, arbitrator did not exceed powers in deciding scope of arbitration)
Town & Country Salida, Inc. v. Dealer Computer Services, Inc., No. 11-15430 (USDC E.D. Mich. May 31, 2012) (granting in part motion to vacate or modify, granting in part motion to confirm, vacating award against party who was not a party to the agreement to arbitrate, affirming award against affiliate that was party to the agreement)
Alliance Healthcare Services, Inc. v. Argonaut Private Equity, LLC, No. 11-C-3275 (USDC N.D. Ill. June 12, 2012) (granting motion to confirm in part, denying in part, finding arbitration panel did not exceed scope of submission, and confirming award on that basis, but denying moving party’s claim for post-award interest)
Evident Partiality
Chandler v. Journey Education Marketing, Inc., No. 2:10-cv-00839 (USDC S.D.W.Va May 15, 2012) (granting motion to confirm, no evident partiality)
Stone v. Bear, Stearns & Co., Inc., No. 2:11-cv-5118 (USDC E.D. Pa. May 29, 2012) (denying petition to vacate, denying attorneys fees to prevailing party, no evident partiality in FINRA arbitration where arbitrator failed to disclose husband’s ties to securities industry and insufficient challenge to such failure was made during the arbitration)
Jurisdiction/venue
Kolel Beth Yechiel Mechil of Tartikov, Inc. v. YLL Irrevocable Trust, No. 11-Civ. 7707 (USDC S.D.N.Y. May 25, 2012) (denying motion to remand state court action seeking vacatur which was removed to federal court by prevailing party in arbitration, ordering petitioner to show cause why award should not be confirmed)
This post written by John Pitblado.
