It Is With A Heavy Heart That A Ninth Circuit Panel Tells Us It Can't Fix A Mess. "This award shows in stark terms the real risks that parties assume when they trade away their right to adjudicate their claims in court for the potential efficiencies of arbitration. When, as here, things go wrong, […]
Ambiguous And Unconscionable. The threshold question in Bernell Gregory Beco v. Fast Auto Loans, Inc., G059382 (4/3 12/14/22) (Moore, Bedsworth, Sanchez) was whether the court or the arbitrator should determine the issue of arbitrability. The arbitration agreement included a delegation provision stating that covered: "any dispute concerning the arbitrability of any such controversy or […]
Can A Merits Award In Arbitration That Affects Rights Of Third Party Who Did Not Participate In Arbitration Be Corrected? The majority opinion in E-Commerce Lighting, Inc. v. E-Commerce Trade LLC, E074525 (4/1 12/9/22) (Raphael, Ramirez; dsst. Mentrez), answered the above question with a "no", reversing the trial judge. Judge Menetrez, dissenting, answered "yes," […]
First District Division 1 Explains What Will And What Will Not Result In Equitable Estoppel Requiring Non-Signatory To Arbitrate. After plaintiffs in coordinated cases hired the Fertility Center (Pacific) to provide fertility-related services, a tank used by Pacific to freeze eggs failed. The tank was manufactured by Chart, Inc., (Chart), and sold to Pacific […]
Court Holds That Viking River Cruises Requires Enforcement Of Pre-Dispute Arbitration Agreement. Judge Harutunian explains that the trial court "understandably" denied the employer's motion to compel arbitration based on a rule in California that "predispute agreements to arbitrate PAGA claims are unenforceable." He concludes: "We hold that this rule cannot survive the U.S. Supreme […]
Employers Take Heed: Promptly Pay Arbitration Fees Or Lose The Right To Arbitrate. California Code of Civil Procedure, sections 1281.97 and 1281.98 provide that if a company or business that drafts an arbitration agreement does not pay arbitration fees within 30 days of when fees are due, the company or business is in material […]
Court Of Appeals Affirms Denial Of Motion To Compel Arbitration. It's alive, it's alive ! We harbor the suspicion that Navas v. Fresh Venture Foods, LLC, B31288A (2/6 11/21/22) (Gilbert, Yegan, Perren), was published so that the Court of Appeal could tell us that while Viking River Cruises v. Moriana overrules Iskanian, to […]