Arbitration: Supreme Court Cases

Arbitration: Supreme Court Cases

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We are working on reorganising these cases. In the meantime they are split amongst two pages. See the old version of this page.

Shanferoke Coal & Supply Corp. v. Westchester Service Corp., 293 U.S. 449 (1935) #

One Line Summary: power to grant a stay is not conditioned on power to compel arbitration. Existence of arbitration agreement is an equitable defense.

Pull quote (From Majority)
We think the Court of Appeals was clearly right in concluding that there is no reason to imply that the power to grant a stay is conditioned upon the existence of power to compel arbitration in accordance with § 4 of the Act.

Wilko v. Swan, 346 U.S. 427 (1953) #

One Line Summary: The Securities Act overrides the Federal Arbitration Act (the judicial forum is a “a substantial right” and thus non-waivable).

Pull Quote (from majority):
Two policies, not easily reconcilable, are involved in this case. Congress has afforded participants in transactions subject to its legislative power an opportunity generally to secure prompt, economical and adequate solution of controversies through arbitration if the parties are willing to accept less certainty of legally correct adjustment. On the other hand, it has enacted the Securities Act to protect the rights of investors and has forbidden a waiver of any of those rights. Recognizing the advantages that prior agreements for arbitration may provide for the solution of commercial controversies, we decide that the intention of Congress concerning the sale of securities is better carried out by holding invalid such an agreement for arbitration of issues arising under the Act.

Bernhardt v. Polygraphic Co. 350 U.S. 198 (1956) #

TODO

Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Co., 363 U.S. 574 (1960) #

This primarily relates to labor arbitration (e.g. collective arbitration agreement).

One Line Summary: Whether the decision to contract out work is strictly a function of management or is arbitral.

Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg. Co., 388 US 395 (1967) #

Pull Quote:
> a federal court may not consider a claim of fraud in the inducement of the contract generally, but "may consider only the issues relating to the making and performance of the agreement to arbitrate." Pp. 388 U. S. 402-404. > > Since the claim of fraud here relates to inducement of the consulting agreement generally, rather than in the arbitration clause, and there is no evidence that the parties intended to withhold this issue from arbitration, there is no basis for granting a stay under § 3. Pp. 388 U. S. 406-407.

Analysis #

Recognizing as “broad” a clause requiring arbitration of"[a]ny controversy or claim arising out of or relating to" the agreement Holding that if the making of the arbitration agreement is an issue “the federal court may proceed to adjudicate it”

Holding that contractual language “[a]ny controversy or claims arising out of or relating to this Agreement, or breach thereof” is “easily broad enough to encompass” claim for fraud in inducement of contract

The Prima Paint Court erred, however, in asserting that the FAA’s basis was “confined to” Congress’s interstate commerce and admiralty power. That assertion is flat out wrong: As we have seen, the legislative history shows that Congress placed primary reliance for enacting the FAA on its control over the procedures of the federal courts. 1

  1. David Schwartz. (2004). Correcting federalism mistakes in statutory interpretation: the supreme court and the federal arbitration act. Law and Contemporary Problems, 67(1), 5–54. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol67/iss1/2 pg 36 ↩︎

Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Company #

One Line Summary: arbitration of a discrimination claim as a grievance in labor union arbitration did not preclude the individual from later asserting the claim in court.

Scherk v. Alberto-Culver Company 417 US 506 (1974) #

Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital v. Mercury Construction Corp., 460 U.S. 1 (1983) #

One Line Summary: Established that the FAA applies to actions in state court and a policy of rapid and unobstructed enforcement of arbitration agreements.

Pull Quote (from majority):

Moses H Cone
...any doubts concerning the scope of arbitrable issues should be resolved in favor of arbitration... ...unless it may be said with positive assurance that the arbitration clause is not susceptible of an interpretation that covers the asserted dispute... Section 2 is a congressional declaration of a liberal federal policy favoring arbitration agreements, notwithstanding any state substantive or procedural policies to the contrary. The effect of the section is to create a body of federal substantive law of arbitrability, applicable to any arbitration agreement within the coverage of the act.

Interestingly this was a 6–3 decision, signed by all the liberal justices and to which the conservative justices—Justices Rehnquist, Burger, and O’Connor—dissented. 1

  1. Stone, K. V. W. (2023). Arbitration—From Sacred Cow to Golden Calf: Three Phases in the History of the Federal Arbitration Act. 23. pp 126 ↩︎

Southland Corp. v. Keating, 465 U.S. 1 (1984) #

One Line Summary: FAA applies to contracts under state law (due to congressional intent)

Core Claim (pull quote)
In enacting § 2 of the federal Act, Congress declared a national policy favoring arbitration and withdrew the power of the states to require a judicial forum for the resolution of claims that the contracting parties agreed to resolve by arbitration.

Analysis #

  1. Joshi, H. (2023). You Have Got to Be Keating Me: Why the Ending Forced Arbitration of Sexual Assault and Sexual Harassment Act Is a Good Start. 2023.
  2. Jacobs, B. L. (n.d.). Often Wrong, Never in Doubt: How Anti-Arbitration Expectancy Bias May Limit Access to Justice. ACCESS TO JUSTICE, 62.
  3. Dunham, K. F. (2009). Southland Corp. v. Keating Revisited: Twenty-Five Years in Which Direction. Charleston Law Review, 4, 331. https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/charlwrev4&id=335&div=&collection= (unread)
  4. Schwartz, D. (2004). Correcting Federalism Mistakes in Statutory Interpretation: The Supreme Court and the Federal Arbitration Act. Law and Contemporary Problems, 67(1), 5–54. https://scholarship.law.duke.edu/lcp/vol67/iss1/2

Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. v. Byrd, 470 U.S. 213 (1985) #

TODO

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. v. Soler Chrysler-Plymouth, Inc., 473 U.S. 614 (1985) #

One Line Summary: Sherman act anti-trust claims arising from an international act are arbitrable.

Part of Mitsubishi trilogy which allowed arbitration to hear statutory claims.

Perry v. Thomas, 482 U.S. 483 (1987) #

TODO

Gilmer v. Interstate/Johnson Lane Corp. 500 U.S. 20 (1991) #

One Line Summary: An ADEA claim can be subjected to compulsory arbitration.

Mr. Gilmer, the Court held, would not be harmed by the agreed-upon switch to arbitration because his arbitrator would be bound to follow substantive federal age-discrimination law, and the procedures unilaterally set up by the employer to govern the arbitration proceedings were not unfair. There was no inequality of bargaining power, in part because Mr. Gilmer was an “experienced businessman”. 1

Pull Quote from Dissent (pg 42):

When the FAA was passed in 1925, I doubt that any legislator who voted for it expected it to apply to statutory claims, to form contracts between parties of unequal bargaining power, or to the arbitration of disputes arising out of the employment relationship. In recent years, however, the Court “has effectively rewritten the statute,” and abandoned its earlier view that statutory claims were not appropriate subjects for arbitration.

Analysis #

Gilmer takes the positive attributes of labor arbitration, involving institutional parties on both sides and procedural rules mutually negotiated by employers and unions, and apparently equates them with the entirely distinct mandatory-arbitration process. [feedagger]

  1. Reginald Alleyne. (2003). Arbitrators’ Fees: The Dagger in the Heart of Mandatory Arbitration for Statutory Discrimination Claims. 6. ↩︎

First Options of Chicago v. Kaplan 514 US 938 (1995) #

TODO

Wright v. Universal Maritime Service Corp., 525 U.S. 70, 80-82 (1998) #

TODO

Green Tree Financial Corporation-Alabama v. Randolph, 531 US 79 (2000) #

One Line Summary: An arbitration agreement that is silent on arbitration costs and fees is not unenforceable

Green Tree Financial Corp. v. Bazzle, 539 U.S. 444 (2003) #

One Line Summary: The question of whether a contract forbade class arbitration qualified as one of procedural arbitrability within an arbitrator’s adjudicative scope.

  • Court Opinion (unread)
  • Oyez
  • Plurality Author: Stephen G. Breyer
  • Concurrence: John Paul Stevens (in part)
  • Dissents: William H. Rehnquist, joined by Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Anthony M. Kennedy

Preston v. Ferrer, 552 U.S. 346 (2008) #

14 Penn Plaza LLC v. Pyett, 556 U.S. 247, 255 & n.4 (2009) #

TODO

Granite Rock Co. v. International Brotherhood of Teamsters #

One Line Summary: the presumption that a dispute is arbitrable should only be applied where it derives legitimacy from, a judicial conclusion that arbitration is what the parties intended

  • Oyez
  • Majority Author: Clarence Thomas
  • Dissents: John Paul Stevens, Sonia Sotomayor

Rent-A-Center West v. Jackson, 561 US 63 (2010) #

One Line Summary: arbitrator will determine the enforceability of the agreement (as opposed to disputing existence of arbitration).

Stolt-Nielsen S. A. v. AnimalFeeds Int’l Corp., 559 U.S. 662 (2010) #

TODO

Marmet Health Care Center, Inc. v. Brown, 565 U.S. 530 (2012) #

TODO

Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 133 S. Ct. 2064, 2071 (2013) #

TODO

Directv, Inc. v. Imburgia, 136 S. Ct. 463, 464 (2015) #

One Line Summary: Explicit statement about governance by “Federal Arbitration Act” overrides statement that the entire arbitration provision was unenforceable if the “law of your state” made class-arbitration waivers unenforceable.

ScotusBlog

Kindred Nursing Ctrs. Ltd. P’ship v. Clark, 137 S. Ct. 1421 (2017) #

The Kentucky Supreme Court determined that individuals holding power of attorney for another cannot enter into mandatory arbitration agreements. Because the Kentucky Supreme Court singled out arbitration contracts, The United States Supreme Court reasoned that the decision conflicted with the FAA and thus could not stand

One Line Summary: The FAA preempts any state rule discriminating on its face against arbitration

National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc. (2017) #

One Line Summary: TODO

  • Wikipedia: TODO (unread)
  • Court Opinion (Court Listener): TODO (unread)
  • Court Opinion (pdf): TODO (unread)
  • Oyez: TODO (unread)
  • Majority Author: TODO (unread)
  • Concurrence: TODO (unread)
  • Dissents: TODO (unread)

Pull Quote (from TODO ):

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Epic Sys. Corp. v. Lewis, No. 16-285, 2018 WL 2292444, at *26 (2018) #

Core Finding: Section 7 (29 U.S. Code Chapter §7) of the NLRA does not conflict or supersede FAA arbitration. Such waivers are enforceable.

Pull Quote

As a matter of policy these questions are surely debatable. But as a matter of law the answer is clear. Congress has instructed federal courts to enforce arbitration agreements according to their terms—including terms providing for individualized proceedings.

Consolidated with: Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris and National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.

Ernst & Young LLP v. Morris (Docket 16-300) (2018) #

One Line Summary: NLRA did not override FAA.

  • Related to Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis
  • Related to National Labor Relations Board v. Murphy Oil USA, Inc.

Henry Schein, Inc. v. Archer & White Sales, Inc., 586 U.S. (2019) #

One Line Summary: when the parties’ contract delegates the arbitrability question to an arbitrator, a court may not override the contract.

New Prime Inc. v. Oliveira 139 S. Ct. 532 (2019) #

TODO

Badgerow v. Walters 596 US _ (2022) #

One Line Summary: Federal courts do not have subject matter jurisdiction to confirm or vacate an arbitration award under section 4.

Oyez

Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. 596 US _ (2022) #

One Line Summary: courts cannot create arbitration-specific procedural rules

Core Claim (pull quote):

This Court granted certiorari to resolve the split over whether federal courts may adopt an arbitration-specific waiver rule demanding a showing of prejudice. Held: ….erred in conditioning a waiver of the right to arbitrate on a showing of prejudice. The text of the FAA makes clear that courts are not to create arbitration-specific procedural rules …

Analysis #

See Rosencrants for detailed analysis.

Southwest Airlines Co. v. Saxon, 142 S. Ct. 1783 (2022) #

One Line Summary: employees who are “physically loading cargo directly on and off an airplane headed out of State” are within 9 U.S. Code §1 exemption

Viking River Cruises, Inc. v. Moriana, 20-1573 (2022) #

Core Issue (pull quote)

whether the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U. S. C. §1 et seq., preempts a rule of California law that invalidates contractual waivers of the right to assert representative claims under California’s Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004, Cal. Lab. Code §2698 et seq he FAA preempts the rule of Iskanian insofar as it precludes division of PAGA actions into individual and non-individual claims through an agreement to arbitrate. Pp. 7–21. Decision: https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/21pdf/20-1573_8p6h.pdf

The court also predicted what the california courts would rule in a similar case (alolf) SCOTUS predicting Adolph

Bissonnette v. LePage Bakeries Park St., LLC (2023) #

Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari - question to be presented
Presented Question: To be exempt from the Federal Arbitration Act, must a class of workers that is actively engaged in interstate transportation also be employed by a company in the transportation industry?
Decision - Pull Quote
A transportation worker need not work in the transportation industry to fall within the exemption from the FAA provided by §1 of the Act

Coinbase v. Bielski, 599 U.S. ___ (2023) #

One Line Summary: In federal courts - a pending interlocutory appeal of a motion to compel requires staying court proceedings

Coinbase, Inc. v. Suski (2024) #

One Line Summary: If a second contract is silent but the parties already have an existing contract, the court decides if the second contract is subject to arbitration.

SCOTUSBlog Case File SCOTUSBlog Explanation

Smith v. Spizzirri, U.S., No. 22-1218 (2024) #

One Line Summary: Whether 9 U.S.C. § 3 requires the court to stay a lawsuit pending arbitration or if they have discretion to dismiss.

January 12, 2025
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