In Lubin v. Starbucks Corp., 2024 WL 5113125 (11th Cir. Dec. 16, 2024), the Eleventh Circuit rejected an employer’s attempt to compel arbitration of claims brought by a former employee’s husband, where he had not signed an agreement with the employer and his claims were not sufficiently related to his wife’s employment agreement. The decision…
Tag: Arbitrability
Whether Statute Overrides the Federal Arbitration Act Must Be Decided by a Court, Not an Arbitrator
The Eleventh Circuit again faced the question (becoming increasingly common in the world of arbitration enforcement) of precisely which challenges to “arbitrability” can and cannot be contractually delegated to an arbitrator. The challenge in Steines v. Westgate Palace, L.L.C., 2024 WL 4052630 (11th Cir. Sept. 5, 2024), was based on the Military Lending Act (MLA),…
Arbitration Agreement’s Delegation Clause Must Be Enforced Even If Arbitration of Underlying Claims Prohibited by Statute
In Attix v. Carrington Mortgage Services, LLC, 35 F.4th 1284 (11th Cir. May 26, 2022), the Eleventh Circuit reversed a district court’s denial of a motion to compel arbitration and enforced the parties’ agreement to delegate to the arbitrator questions of arbitrability, including whether arbitration itself was precluded by the Dodd-Frank Act. The decision not…
Federal Presumption of Arbitrability Limited to Disputes That Are Immediate, Foreseeable Results of Contractual Performance
After concluding that the most natural reading of an arbitration agreement did not cover the dispute in Calderon v. Sixt Rent a Car, LLC, 2021 U.S. App. LEXIS 20854 (11th Cir. July 14, 2021), the Eleventh Circuit held more broadly that the Federal Arbitration Act’s strong presumption of arbitrability applies only if “the dispute in…
Employee Arbitration Award Stands Despite Arbitrators’ Alleged Misinterpretation of the Contract
The Eleventh Circuit refused to vacate an employee’s arbitration award for nearly $4 million for wrongful termination based on the employer’s claim that the arbitration panel misinterpreted the parties’ employment and arbitration agreements in Gherardi v. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., 2020 WL 5553255 (11th Cir. Sept. 17, 2020). The employee brought several claims in arbitration,…
Herbalife Top Distributors Lose Arbitration Bid
Top distributors of the sometimes controversial nutrition products marketer Herbalife lost their bid to compel arbitration of RICO and related claims made by lower-level distributors in Lavigne v. Herbalife, Ltd., 2020 WL 4342671 (11th Cir. July 29, 2020), which affirmed the order of a Florida district court. The top distributors, alleged to be part of…