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Arbitration Law Memo September 2004
by Ross Runkel at LawMemo
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Arbitration - Individual Contracts ***
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Arbitration - Collective Bargaining Agreements ***
*** Arbitration - Individual
Contracts ***
CA
- State law claims were subject to arbitration agreement.
Buckhorn v. St Jude Heritage
Medical Group (California Ct App 08/31/2004)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/g032748.pdf
Buckhorn was discharged from his
job as a physician. He sued the
employer, asserting various state law claims.
The employer moved to compel arbitration, but that motion was denied by
the trial court. The court
reversed, concluding that "all alleged torts were rooted in [the]
employment contract and thus fell within [the] arbitration clause."
CA
- Employer's motion to compel arbitration was properly denied under Code of
Civil Procedure Section 1281.2, subdivision (c).
Whaley v. Sony Computer
Entertainment America (California Ct App 08/05/2004)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/californiastatecases/d043188.pdf
The employer sued former
employees of a company purchased by the employer, claiming they were involved in
a scheme to defraud the employer. One
of the employees filed a cross-complaint. On
the same day that the cross complaint was filed, Whaley filed suit against the
employer for (among other things) breach of contract, fraud, and unpaid wages.
The employer moved to compel
arbitration of Whaley's claim. Whaley
resisted that motion, and moved to consolidate his claim with that of the other
employee (who was not a signatory to any arbitration agreement with the
employer). The trial court denied
the motion to compel arbitration, relying on Code of Civil Procedure Section
1281.2, subdivision (c). That
subdivision allows a trial court to deny a motion to compel arbitration when
"[a] party to the arbitration agreement is also a party to a pending court
action or special proceeding with a third party, arising out of the same
transaction or series of related transactions and there is a possibility of
conflicting rulings on a common issue of law or fact." The employer appealed, and the court affirmed.
The court concluded that "the trial court did not misapply the law
in denying the motion pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2,
subdivision (c)."
*** Arbitration -
Collective Bargaining Agreements ***
MI
- Arbitrators erred in concluding that issues weren't timely raised by police
officers' union under Act 312.
Police Officers Assn of Michigan
v. Ottawa County Sheriff (Michigan Ct App 08/19/2004)
http://www.lawmemo.com/emp/docs/mi/poam.pdf
The trial court concluded that a
panel of arbitrators hadn't erred when it declined to consider the police
officers' union's last best offer concerning the right to retroactively
arbitrate grievances. The
arbitrators had refused to consider the issue on the basis that Act 312, which
provides for compulsory arbitration of labor disputes in municipal police and
fire departments, prohibits consideration of arbitration related issues raised
near or at the arbitration hearing. The
court reversed, noting that pursuant to Section 8 of Act 312, "the
Legislature intended to grant arbitration panels discretion to determine the
economic issues in dispute either at the hearing or before the conclusion of
[the] hearing."
8th
- Award on union's jurisdiction over work
affirmed.
Minneapolis-St. Paul Mailers
Union v. Northwest Publications (8th
Cir 08/13/2004)
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/8th/033082p.pdf
The union sought to vacate a
grievance arbitration award rendered in the employer's favor.
The arbitrator decided that certain work was not within the union's
jurisdiction. The trial court confirmed the award.
The 8th Circuit affirmed. The
court concluded, in part, that the arbitration award drew its essence from the
collective bargaining agreement in effect between the union and employer.
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Editor: Ross Runkel, Professor of Law Emeritus. email Ross@LawMemo.Com, Phone 503-399-8028. Copyright LawMemo, Inc.
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