Benjamin Stearns on Arbitration Agreements

Parsing the Sometimes Fine Distinction Between a Broad and a Narrow Arbitration Clause

In an employment dispute, the District Court of Connecticut dissected an arbitration clause to determine whether its scope was “broad,” resulting in a presumption of arbitrability of collateral issues, or “narrow,” in which...more

12/10/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Employment Litigation , Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) , Federal Arbitration Act , Wage and Hour

Determination of Valid Arbitration Agreement May Be Dependent on “Outward Manifestations and Circumstances Surrounding the...

The Ninth Circuit vacated the denial of a motion to compel arbitration and remanded for determination of whether a valid arbitration agreement exists in a recent lawsuit governed by Washington state law. According to the...more

11/23/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Motion to Compel , Remand

Court Denies Motion To Compel Arbitration and To Appoint Arbitrators Where Parties Had Agreed To Arbitrate and There Was No...

In a case where both the plaintiffs and the defendant agreed the matter should be arbitrated, the Southern District of Ohio refused to compel arbitration and denied the plaintiffs’ motion for the appointment of arbitrators....more

10/28/2020 / American Arbitration Association , Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Arbitrators , Federal Arbitration Act , Jurisdiction , Motion to Compel

Denied: Pro Se Litigant’s Petition to Confirm Arbitration Award He Rendered Against Republican National Committee

Peter Wirs has filed a series of actions against the Republican National Committee since at least 2009. Not finding success in the courts, he apparently decided to arbitrate his claims against the RNC, with “Wirs himself...more

8/31/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Arbitration Awards , Arbitrators , Pro Se Litigants , Res Judicata , Rooker-Feldman Doctrine

Court Denies Vimeo’s Motion to Compel Arbitration of Purported Class Action Claims Under Illinois Biometric Information Privacy...

Vimeo Inc. sought to compel arbitration of putative class claims brought by Bradley Acaley relating to the use of Magisto, a video creation app. Acaley claimed that the app’s use of face-geometry scan technology violated the...more

6/26/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Biometric Information , Biometric Information Privacy Act , Data Collection , Invasion of Privacy , Privacy Policy , Terms and Conditions , Terms of Service

Split Decision in the Ninth Circuit: Two Non-Signatory Defendants Can Compel Arbitration Based on Equitable Estoppel, One Cannot

All three defendants were non-signatories to the underlying contract containing the arbitration agreement they sought to enforce. They each contended that they were entitled to enforce the arbitration agreement, despite their...more

6/3/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Contract Terms , Estoppel , Motion to Compel , Non-Signatories

District Court Orders Insurer in Receivership to Arbitrate With Reinsurers, Rejecting Argument That Jurisdiction Rests With...

The District Court of Puerto Rico upheld a prior judgment ordering Integrand Assurance Co. to arbitrate its claims against its various reinsurers, rather than remand the case to the court overseeing Integrand’s receivership,...more

5/14/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Federal Arbitration Act , McCarran-Ferguson Act , Preemption , Puerto Rico , Receivership , Reinsurance

Second Circuit Upholds Injunction Against Arbitration Based on Prior Singaporean Judgment

Big Port Service DMCC and China Shipping Container Lines Co. Ltd. (CSCL) litigated in Singapore a dispute regarding a supply of marine fuel oil for a CSCL vessel. CSCL subsequently filed suit in the Southern District of New...more

3/30/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Permanent Injunctions

“Grossly Excessive” Arbitration Award Overturned Due to “Evident Material Miscalculation”

An arbitration award rendered pursuant to section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA) was overturned upon a finding that the award was “grossly excessive” and based on an “evident material miscalculation.” ...more

3/13/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Arbitration Award Challenges , Arbitration Awards , Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) , Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) , Employer Contributions , Federal Arbitration Act , Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA)

Former Employees Not Bound by Their Former Union’s Arbitration Agreement

The former employees of a waste management company sued their former employer for violations of various federal and state labor laws. The company sought to compel arbitration and dismiss the complaint, relying on an...more

2/21/2020 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Contract Interpretation , Employment Litigation , Federal Labor Laws , Former Employee , Labor Law Violations , Mandatory Arbitration , Motion to Compel , State Labor Laws , Threshold Requirements , Unions

First Circuit Affirms Denial of Vacatur of Arbitration Award, Rejects Arguments That Parties Opted Out of FAA and Arbitrator Erred

The First Circuit recently denied an appeal from the District of Puerto Rico’s refusal to vacate an arbitration award. The dispute centered on a management services agreement containing an arbitration agreement that required...more

9/9/2019 / AHLA , Appeals , Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Arbitration Awards , Binding Arbitration , Choice-of-Law , Contract Terms , Federal Arbitration Act , Healthcare , Manifest Disregard , Professional Misconduct , Puerto Rico , State Arbitration Acts , Vacatur

Court Compels Arbitration Under the New York Convention and Dismisses Case in Windstorm Insurance Claim Dispute

The underlying insurance policy was issued by Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s London and contained an arbitration clause. The court applied the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (also...more

7/1/2019 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Dismissals , Federal Arbitration Act , Insurance Litigation , Lloyds of London , Motion to Compel , New York Convention , Policy Terms

Eleventh Circuit Finds Removal Jurisdiction Is Included Within Federal Subject-Matter Jurisdiction Under the Convention on the...

In 2001, Del Monte International GmbH and Inversiones y Procesadora Tropical INPROTSA, S.A. entered into an agreement for the production, packaging, and sale of MD-2 pineapples, a variety of pineapple that Del Monte had...more

5/22/2019 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Arbitration Awards , Contract Terms , Food Manufacturers , Injunctions , Removal , Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Ninth Circuit Recognizes That Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Agreements are Valid Under Epic Systems

Citing the recent United States Supreme Court decision in Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis, a panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the argument that an arbitration agreement was invalid because it included a...more

11/14/2018 / Appeals , Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Class Action , Class Action Arbitration Waivers , Epic Systems Corp v Lewis

Uber Drivers’ Class Action Thrown Into Reverse: Ninth Circuit Overturns Class Certification Order and Denial of Uber’s Motion to...

A putative class action against Uber filed by some of the company’s California-based drivers has crashed. The Ninth Circuit reversed rulings denying Uber’s motion to compel arbitration...more

10/23/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Class Action Arbitration Waivers , Class Certification , Motion to Compel , Putative Class Actions , Sharing Economy , Uber

Court Applies Arbitration And Continued Performance Provisions Of One Contract To A Separate Performance Guaranty Agreement

This lawsuit centered around a contract providing a guaranty of performance in connection with an underlying broadband network access contract. ...more

6/18/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Broadband , Contract Disputes , Contract Terms

Supreme Court Upholds Employee Individualized Arbitration Agreements Against Challenges Based On The National Labor Relations Act

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that agreements between an employer and an employee providing for individualized arbitration do not violate the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). ...more

5/29/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Class Action Arbitration Waivers , Epic Systems Corp v Lewis , Ernst & Young v Morris , Federal Arbitration Act , Murphy Oil v NLRB , NLRA , NLRB , Remand , Reversal , Savings Clause , SCOTUS

Court Applies The “Intertwined-Ness Test” To Find That A Non-Signatory Could Invoke Equitable Estoppel To Compel Arbitration

The court applied a two-part “intertwined-ness test” to determine whether an arbitration agreement allowed a non-signatory to invoke equitable estoppel to compel arbitration....more

4/16/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Equitable Estoppel , Insurance Industry , Insurance Litigation , Non-Signatories , Reinsurance

Delegation Clause Must Clearly Contemplate Arbitrability Of Disputes With Non-Signatories To Be Enforced In Those Disputes

A delegation clause that gave the arbitrators “exclusive jurisdiction over the entire matter in dispute, including any question as to its arbitrability,” was found insufficient to require submission to the arbitrators of...more

3/30/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Delegation Clauses , Exclusive Jurisdiction , Motion to Compel , Non-Signatories

The FAA’s Presumption In Favor Of Arbitration Does Not Require Arguable Ambiguities In Arbitration Agreements To Be Interpreted As...

In a dispute over the scope of a mandatory arbitration provision, the Sixth Circuit rejected the argument that it is required by the Federal Arbitration Act’s presumption in favor of arbitration to interpret an arbitration...more

3/27/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Contract Interpretation , Federal Arbitration Act , Mandatory Arbitration Clauses

Arbitration Agreement Selecting Maryland Law Held Unenforceable As To Private Attorney General Claims Brought Under California Law

A choice of law provision within an arbitration agreement selecting Maryland law was held unenforceable in so far as it would result in waiver of claims under the California Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), contrary to...more

3/7/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Choice-of-Law , Employment Litigation , Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA) , State and Local Government , Unpaid Wages , Wage and Hour

Participation In Litigation To Avoid A Default Judgment Does Not Waive A Party’s Right To Compel Arbitration

An employer did not waive its right to compel arbitration under an employment agreement by seeking to set aside a default in an employment discrimination suit brought against it by its employee. ...more

3/5/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Default Judgment , Employment Discrimination , Employment Litigation , Motion to Compel , Pre-Employment Agreements

Insurance Receiver’s Preemption Argument Under Mccarran-Ferguson Fails To Avoid Arbitration Of Reinsurance Dispute

The receiver for Gramercy Insurance Company sought to avoid arbitration of a reinsurance dispute with Contractor’s Bonding, Ltd., by arguing the FAA was reverse preempted under the McCarran-Ferguson Act....more

2/12/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , Contract Terms , Federal Arbitration Act , Insurance Industry , Insurance Litigation , McCarran-Ferguson Act , Reinsurance , Reinsurance Agreements , Reverse Preemption

The Federal Arbitration Act Does Not Grant Arbitrators The Power To Compel Pre-Hearing Production Of Documents From Non-Parties

While the FAA grants arbitrators authority to compel non-parties to appear before them and produce documents at a hearing, it does not authorize them to compel pre-hearing production. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals joined...more

1/22/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , CVS , Federal Arbitration Act , Motion to Compel

Ninth Circuit: Unconscionability Arguments Directed Solely At Class Action Waiver Provisions In Arbitration Agreements Are...

Utilizing a “sweeping reading of Concepcion,” as characterized by the concurring opinion, the Ninth Circuit has ruled that arguments that “a class action waiver, by itself, is unconscionable under state law or that an...more

1/4/2018 / Arbitration , Arbitration Agreements , AT&T Mobility v Concepcion , Class Action , Class Action Arbitration Waivers , Consumer Contracts , Service Contracts , Unconscionable Contracts

Benjamin Stearns

Carlton Fields

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