If you are a party that wants courts to rigidly enforce delegation clauses – sending questions about even the validity of the agreement to arbitration – then you will appreciate a new decision from the Tenth Circuit. In Belnap v. Iasis Healthcare, __ F.3d __, 2017 WL 56277 (10th Cir. Jan. 5, 2017),
circuit split
Out On A Limb, 7th Circuit Creates Circuit Split Over Class Arbitration For Employees
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Class Arbitration
Of all the federal circuit courts, I was not expecting the 7th Circuit to venture out on a limb to support the NLRB’s interpretation of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as precluding class arbitration waivers. After all, the 7th Circuit gets affirmed more than other circuit courts by SCOTUS, earning it a reputation for…
Circuit Split Persists Regarding Whether Arbitrator's "Manifest Disregard" Of Law Can Vacate Arbitration Award
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
Three years ago, this blog catalogued where all the federal circuits stood on the issue of whether an arbitration award that “manifestly disregarded the law” could be vacated under the Federal Arbitration Act, as that is not one of the four bases for vacatur listed in Section 10. There was a circuit split then, and…
Arbitration Award Can Be Vacated If It Directs Party To Perform Illegal Act
By Liz Kramer on
Posted in Appealing Arbitration Decisions
In a new decision from the First Circuit, which refuses to make any definitive pronouncements about the law on vacating arbitration awards, the court said it assumes “with some confidence” that if an arbitration award directed a party to violate an administrative agency rule, it could be vacated on that basis.
In Bangor Gas Company…