Justice Kavanaugh’s 1st opinion: Arbitration

Justice Kavanaugh’s 1st opinion: Arbitration.

Part of a series - Employment Law Case of the Week - by Ross Runkel.

The US Supreme Court has held – unanimously – that courts must enforce an arbitration delegation clause even if the merits appear to be "wholly groundless." Henry Schein v. Archer & White (US Supreme Ct 01/08/2019) [PDF]. This is Justice Kavanaugh's first Supreme Court opinion. Eight pages.

[This is not an employment law case, yet it will have an impact on employment agreements that contain an arbitration clause.] Archer & White Sales sued Henry Schein alleging antitrust violations and seeking both money damages and injunctive relief. Schein moved to compel arbitration, citing an arbitration clause in the parties' contract. Archer & White argued that the dispute was not subject to arbitration because its complaint sought injunctive relief, at least in part, and the arbitration agreement had an exception for injunctive relief. Schein contended that because the rules governing the contract provide that arbitrators have the power to resolve arbitrability questions, an arbitrator – not the court – should decide whether the arbitration agreement applied. Lower courts held that the argument in favor of arbitration was "wholly groundless," and so the trial court could – and did – decide that the arbitration agreement did not cover this dispute. The US Supreme Court unanimously reversed.

The US Supreme Court held that the "wholly groundless" exception to arbitrability is inconsistent with the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the Court's precedent. Under the FAA, arbitration is a matter of contract, and courts must enforce arbitration contracts according to their terms. The parties may agree to have an arbitrator decide not only the merits of a particular dispute, but also "gateway" questions of arbitrability. Therefore, when the parties' contract delegates the arbitrability question to an arbitrator, a court may not override the contract, even if the court thinks that the arbitrability claim is wholly groundless. "[A] court may not 'rule on the potential merits of the underlying' claim that is assigned by contract to an arbitrator, 'even if it appears to the court to be frivolous.'"