Labor & Employment Law

Filing a demand for arbitration of a dispute held controlled by the terms and conditions set out in the relevant collective bargaining agreement

One of the issues presented in this appeal concerned a demand for arbitration by the aggrieved party [Petitioner] in response to a claim seeking the payment of a $1,111,124 "withdrawal liability" following Petitioner's withdrawal from a pension fund.

The relevant collective bargaining agreement provided that any arbitration would be filed with and therefore governed by the American Arbitration Association's [AAA] rules, which rules, as relevant here, required Petitioner to file a timely demand for arbitration and to submit the required AAA filing fee* in order to initiate the arbitration process.

Petitioner contended that the district court erred in granting summary judgment against it, arguing that:

[1] It had made a timely demanded for arbitration of the issue; and

[2] Any failure to make a timely demand was excused because the arbitration rules of the AAA "imposed preconditions to arbitration that were not fair or equitable."

Rejecting the claims advanced by the Petitioner, the Circuit Court concluded that the Petitioner was bound by the AAA's rules, which required Petitioner to initiate arbitration with the AAA by filing a timely formal demand for arbitration and submitting the required filing fee, and found that the Petitioner had not done so.

Accordingly, Circuit Court of Appeals affirm the federal district court?s judgment.

* In this instance the AAA filing fee was $8,200.

'The decision is posted on the Internet at: https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/19-1093/19-1093-2020-09-03.html

Full post as published by New York Public Personnel Law on September 10, 2020 (boomark / email).