Justia Arbitration & Mediation Opinion Summaries

Plaintiffs Tiffaney Whitt, on behalf of her minor children, and Jeremiah Parker, Whitt’s adult son, filed a lawsuit against Kearney School District and Durham School Services, L.P., due to racial harassment experienced by Parker and his siblings on a school bus operated by Durham. Plaintiffs alleged a 42 U.S.C. § 1981 claim against Durham, asserting they were third-party beneficiaries of the contract between Kearney and Durham, which required safe, harassment-free transportation.The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri denied Durham’s motion to dismiss and motion for summary judgment, which challenged the validity of Plaintiffs’ § 1981 claim. Durham then filed a motion to compel arbitration based on an arbitration clause in its contract with Kearney. The district court denied this motion, concluding that Durham waived its right to enforce the arbitration clause by not raising it earlier in the litigation. Durham appealed this decision.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case and affirmed the district court’s judgment. The appellate court held that Durham knew of its right to arbitrate, as it possessed the contract containing the arbitration clause, and acted inconsistently with that right by engaging in extensive litigation and discovery before filing the motion to compel arbitration. The court also noted that the district court’s consideration of prejudice to Plaintiffs, although erroneous, did not affect the substantial rights of the parties. The appellate court rejected Durham’s argument that it could not have known to seek arbitration until the district court’s summary judgment ruling and found that Durham’s actions were inconsistent with preserving its right to arbitrate. The court also denied Plaintiffs’ request to adopt a process for certifying interlocutory appeals as frivolous and their request for costs under Fed. R. App. P. 38. View "Parker v. Durham School Services, L.P." on Justia Law

An employee, Brandon Smith, was fired by Kansas City Southern Railway Company (KCSR) in 2018. His union, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers, Transportation Division (SMART-TD), challenged the dismissal under the collective-bargaining agreement (CBA) and the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The dispute went to arbitration, and in 2022, the National Railroad Adjustment Board (Board) overturned Smith's discharge, ordering his reinstatement with full benefits and back pay without deductions for outside earnings.The district court enforced the arbitration award, rejecting KCSR's argument that the award was ambiguous and required clarification. The court ordered KCSR to provide Smith with back pay without deductions and vacation benefits, and also awarded attorney fees to SMART-TD. KCSR appealed, arguing that the district court lacked jurisdiction and should have remanded the case to the Board for interpretation of the ambiguous award.The United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit reviewed the case. The court found that the district court erred in enforcing the award without remanding it to the Board for clarification, particularly regarding the vacation benefits, which were not explicitly addressed in the award. The court noted that the district court overstepped by interpreting the CBA, which is outside its jurisdiction under the RLA. The court also acknowledged that the Board had since clarified the back pay issue, rendering that part of the dispute moot.The Eighth Circuit reversed and vacated the district court's judgments, including the award of attorney fees, and remanded the case for further proceedings consistent with its opinion. The court emphasized the need for the Board to interpret any ambiguities in the arbitration award. View "Assoc.of Sheet Metal Workers v. K.C. Southern Railway" on Justia Law

The Eighth Circuit affirmed the district court's decision to uphold an arbitration award reinstating an employee to his job as a security officer at Entergy's nuclear power plant. The employee has chronic folliculitis, and Entergy thought this would keep him from shaving often enough to properly wear a full-face gas mask in the event of a chemical attack. The arbitrator ordered reinstatement because Entergy never fit-tested the employee with facial hair before concluding that it disqualified him from the position. The Eighth Circuit held that the arbitrator's order requiring that the employee be reinstated with backpay and subject to an acceptable respirator or a reasonable accommodation was not against public policy nor exceeded the arbitrator's authority. In this case, the arbitrator did not stray outside his authority to interpret and apply the contract, and the award was within the range of possibilities Entergy bargained for. View "Entergy Operations v. United Government Security Officers" on Justia Law

General Mills terminated employees and offered them benefits in exchange for releasing all Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), 29 U.S.C. 626(f)(1), claims and arbitrating release-related disputes. Plaintiffs, 33 employees who signed releases, subsequently filed suit seeking a declaratory judgment that the releases were not "knowing and voluntary." Plaintiffs also raised collective and individual ADEA claims. The district court denied General Mills' motion to compel arbitration. The court rejected plaintiffs' claim that the agreement to arbitrate applies only to claims "relating to" the release of claims, and their substantive ADEA claims are not related to the release of claims. Rather, the court found that the agreements' "relating to" sentence showed the parties' intent to arbitrate both disputes about the release and substantive ADEA claims. Therefore, the ADEA claims were covered by the agreements. The court explained that, absent a contrary congressional command, General Mills can compel employees who signed the agreements to arbitrate their ADEA claims. In this case, the court concluded that no "contrary congressional command" overrides the Federal Arbitration Act's (FAA), 9 U.S.C. 1 et seq., mandate to enforce the parties' agreement to arbitrate substantive ADEA claims. Accordingly, the court reversed and remanded for further proceedings. View "McLeod v. General Mills, Inc." on Justia Law

After Willie Robinson, Sr. died, his son and estate administrator filed suit against Pine Hills Health and Rehabilitation nursing home. Willie had entered into an arbitration agreement when he was admitted to Pine Hills and the district court granted defendants' motion to dismiss and compel arbitration. The court concluded that, under Arkansas law, the agreement is enforceable even though the National Arbitration Forum (NAF) is unavailable to serve as the arbitrator. Even assuming that all listed arbitration fora are unavailable, the arbitration agreement still requires the parties to arbitrate this dispute. In this case, the arbitration agreement does not say that the parties must either arbitrate before one of the five fora listed in the code or else litigate. The fact that NAF has stopped performing consumer arbitration does not prove that the code has been canceled, and plaintiff has not provided additional persuasive evidence to show cancellation. Finally, under Arkansas law, these allegations are enough for a court to conclude that the parties are closely related and that arbitration is appropriate. View "Robinson v. EOR-ARK, LLC" on Justia Law

Plaintiffs filed suit against Verizon, alleging violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. 227, and the Iowa Debt Collection Practices Act, Iowa Code 537.7103 (2014), arising out of a billing dispute. Verizon moved to compel arbitration and plaintiffs filed a response consenting to arbitration. Before the court ruled on Verizon's motion to compel arbitration, plaintiff filed a Notice of Settlement. When the parties were unable to agree on a written settlement agreement, each filed a motion to enforce its version of the settlement. The court concluded that the district court did not err in deciding there was no binding pre-arbitration settlement; the district court did not clearly err in finding no enforceable settlement; and plaintiff Shultz had agreed to arbitration. Accordingly, the court affirmed the district court's order denying plaintiffs' motion to amend or correct the judgment. View "Schultz v. Verizon Wireless" on Justia Law

League Commissioner Roger Goodell, during the 2014 football season, suspended Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson indefinitely and fined Peterson a sum equivalent to six games' pay. Peterson’s suspension stemmed from his plea of nolo contendere in November 2014 to a charge of misdemeanor reckless assault on one of his children. After Peterson appealed his discipline to an arbitrator, the arbitrator affirmed the suspension and fine. The district court then granted Peterson's petition to vacate the arbitration decision and the League appealed. The Commissioner subsequently reinstated Peterson. At issue in this appeal is whether the League may collect the fine imposed by the Commissioner and upheld by the arbitrator. The court concluded that the parties bargained to be bound by the decision of the arbitrator, and the arbitrator acted within his authority. The court rejected the Association's remaining contentions that the arbitrator was "evidently partial' and that the arbitration was “fundamentally unfair.” Accordingly, the court reversed the district court’s judgment vacating the arbitration decision and the court remanded with directions to dismiss the petition. View "NFL Players Ass'n v. National Football League" on Justia Law

North Memorial and MNA, pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement (CBA), referred a grievance to arbitration. The district court subsequently granted in part MNA's motion to vacate the arbitral award. The arbitrator addressed whether North Memorial violated the CBA when it refused to regularly schedule the Grievant with no weekend work. The district court imposed a prospective remedy on the parties. The court concluded that the district court correctly concluded the arbitrator was without authority to issue a prospective remedy because his decision exceeded the scope of the submission presented to him by the parties. Reading the plain language of the issue as set out in the decision, the court did not believe that the arbitrator was even arguably acting within the scope of his authority. Accordingly, the court affirmed the judgment. View "Minnesota Nurses Association.v. North Memorial Health Care" on Justia Law

Plaintiff filed suit against his former employer, Yosemite, in state court for breach of contract and wrongful termination. After removal to federal court, and eight months after plaintiff filed his complaint, Yosemite moved to compel arbitration. The court affirmed the district court's denial of Yosemite's motion to arbitrate because Yosemite had waived its right to arbitration. In this case, although Yosemite knew of its existing right to arbitration, it acted inconsistently with this right by proceeding in court for more than eight months before asserting that right. Yosemite invoked the litigation machinery by removing the case to federal court, filing an answer, participating in a pretrial hearing, filing a scheduling report which recommended a trial date and discovery deadlines, and filing a motion to transfer venue. Yosemite also failed to do all it could reasonably have been expected to do to raise its right at the earliest feasible time. Finally, Yosemite's actions caused plaintiff prejudice. View "Messina v. North Central Distrib." on Justia Law

Silgan and the Union challenge an arbitration award. The district court granted summary judgment in favor of Silgan and the Union appealed. The court concluded that the question of validity and formation is not within the scope of the arbitration agreement. Because the arbitrator lacked authority to decide this issue, the district court did not err in vacating the award. Furthermore, the district court erred in granting summary judgment to Silgan and rescinding Article 36 where the mistake has resulted solely from the negligence or inattention of the party seeking relief, and the other party is without fault. Accordingly, the court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded. View "Silgan Containers Corp. v. Sheet Metal Workers Int'l" on Justia Law