In recent weeks, four federal and state appellate courts have vacated district court decisions that denied motions to compel arbitration. The courts seem to be saying to defendants with arbitration agreements: don’t worry if you lose in the trial court, we will be your Tim Howard and save you from the gaping jaws of litigation.
Liz Kramer
Liz Kramer current serves as Minnesota's Solicitor General. Previously, she was a partner at Stinson Leonard Street and the founder of the award-winning blog, ArbitrationNation.
Eighth Circuit Finds Incorporation Of AAA Rules Authorizes Arbitrator To Determine Whether Non-Signatory Can Arbitrate
By Liz Kramer on
In a short and sweet opinion issued just six weeks after argument, the Eighth Circuit yesterday held that an arbitrator was authorized to decide whether a non-signatory was able to arbitrate a dispute. Eckert/Wordell Architects, Inc. v. FJM Props. of Willmar, LLC, __ F.3d __, 2014 WL 2922343 (8th Cir. June 30, 2014).
The…
California Maintains Some Restrictions On The Waivers Allowable In Employment Arbitration Agreements
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration, Litigation vs. Arbitration
This week the Supreme Court of California held that the FAA preempts California’s 2007 Gentry ruling, one that protected employees from nearly all class action waivers in arbitration agreements. Iskanian v. CLS Transp. Los Angeles, LLC, __ P.3d__, 2014 WL 2808963 (Cal. June 23, 2014). However, asserting its Californian-ness, the court found an clever…
Alabama Confirms Arbitrators' Grant of Judgment As A Matter of Law
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
Just as SCOTUS held its nose and confirmed an arbitration award it thought stunk in Sutter, the Supreme Court of Alabama has confirmed an arbitration award made after only the claimant presented evidence and grounded in a possible misunderstanding of Alabama law. Tucker v. Ernst & Young, __ So.3d__, 2014 WL 2619860 (Ala. June…
First Things First: There Must Be An Arbitration Agreement In Order To Compel Arbitration
By Liz Kramer on
Two courts recently refused to compel arbitration because the defendants could not prove that the parties had entered into an arbitration agreement at all. Therefore, the musical accompaniment to this post is “Do Re Mi” from The Sound of Music. “Let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start. When you read,…
Court Vacates $125M Award Due To Arbitrator's Misleading Disclosures
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
Today we take a close look at that rare creature: an opinion finding sufficient basis under the FAA to vacate an arbitration award. In Tenaska Energy Inc. v. Ponderosa Pine Energy, LLC, __S.W.3d __, 2014 WL 2139215 (Tex. May 23, 2014), the Supreme Court of Texas found an arbitrator had shown “evident partiality” due…
Labor Arbitrator Authorized to Void Agreement Based on Mutual Mistake
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
This week the Eighth Circuit confronted an interesting question: if a union member believed he failed a drug test, and therefore agreed his employer could terminate him if he tested positive again, can the arbitrator invalidate that agreement if the union member never actually failed the drug test? The appellate court answered yes, reversing the…
Two Federal Circuits Find Health Insurance Claims Outside Scope of Arbitration Clauses
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Scope of Arbitration Agreement, Uncategorized
Because courts apply a presumption of arbitrability when they analyze whether particular claims fall within the scope of an arbitration clause, and arbitration clauses are generally drafted very broadly, I don’t usually get to write about courts finding that a dispute falls outside the scope of arbitrable claims. But this week, both the Second and…
Dodd-Frank Only Precludes Arbitration of Whistleblower Actions
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Validity of Arbitration Agreement
The Fourth Circuit found this week that the Dodd-Frank Act did not override all arbitration agreements betwen publicly-traded employers and their employees. Santoro v. Accenture Federal Servs., LLC, 2014 WL 1759072 (4th Cir. May 5, 2014). Instead, “where the plaintiff is not pursuing Dodd-Frank whistleblower claims, neither [section of the Dodd-Frank Act] overrides the…
Third Circuit Finds Two Months of Litigation Sufficient to Waive Right to Arbitrate
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Waiver of Right to Arbitrate
In a decision this week, the Third Circuit found two related parties had waived their right to arbitrate claims. One was no suprise — it had vigorously litigated the dispute for eleven months. But the second may have been simply guilty by association, as it had only litigated for two months. Supermedia v. Affordable Electric…