Reinsurance Focus

Following is a summary, by category, of recent opinions of note concerning arbitration process issues.

Class Waiver

Muriithi v. Gadson, No. 11-1445 (4th Cir. April 1, 2013) (vacating judgment that found arbitration clause unconscionable; remanding for court to compel individual arbitration; class waiver not unconscionable under Concepcion; insufficient evidence that arbitration fee-splitting provision rendered arbitration cost prohibitive)

Torres v. United Healthcare Services, Inc., Case No. 12-00923 (USDC E.D.N.Y. Feb. 1, 2013) (granting motion to dismiss and compel arbitration; right to participate in a FLSA collective action can be waived; plaintiffs failed to meet burden of showing that costs of individual arbitrations are cost prohibitive)

Multiple Contracts

Germains Seed Technology, Inc. v. R&R Manufacturing, Inc., Case No. 12-02737 (USDC D. Kan. March 12, 2013) (denying motion to stay and compel arbitration; arbitration clause language in supply agreements was limited to disputes “arising out of” those agreements, and did not encompass dispute connected with claims based on separate stock purchase agreement)

Enterprises International, Inc. v. Pasaban, S.A., Case No. 11-05919 (USDC W.D. Wash. Feb. 11, 2013) (granting motion to stay and compel arbitration against non-signatory to arbitration agreement under alter ego and equitable estoppel theories; free-standing arbitration agreement encompassed dispute arising out of separate license agreement because it “approve[d] and consent[ed]” to the license agreement and thus was “intimately linked” to it)

Related Claims

Cook v. John Hancock Life Insurance Co. (U.S.A.), Case No. 12-00455 (USDC W.D. Va. March 13, 2013) (granting motion to stay pending completion of arbitration; notwithstanding presence of non-arbitrable claims and parties not involved in arbitration, stay would serve considerations of judicial economy, and avoidance of confusion and possible inconsistent results)

Non-Signatories/Equitable Estoppel

Muecke Co., Inc. v.CVS Caremark Corp., No. 12-40475 (5th Cir. Feb. 11, 2013) (affirming denial of motion to compel arbitration; no abuse of discretion in denying motion to compel non-signatories to arbitration under equitable estoppel theory)

Kramer v. Alexsandra Del Real, No. 12-55050 (9th Cir. Jan. 30, 2013) (affirming denial of motion to compel arbitration in putative class action; notwithstanding agreement to arbitrate arbitrability, district court had authority to determine arbitrability between plaintiff/signatories and defendant/non-signatories; equitable estoppel did not permit appellant/non-signatories to compel arbitration where claims were not intertwined with contracts containing arbitration agreement)

This post written by Michael Wolgin.

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