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Arbitral immunity protects a person so long as he or she is acting as an arbitrator, irrespective of whether he or she in fact had the authority to hear the dispute, according to a federal district court in Missouri.
In Park v. Columbia Credit Services, Inc., No. 06-0828-CV-W-ODS, 2007 WL 1847142 (W.D. Mo. June 25, 2007), Park brought a complaint seeking review of an arbitration award entered in favor of debt collector Columbia for an outstanding consumer credit card debt. Park alleged that the arbitration award and Columbia's subsequent attempt to confirm it were "unlawfully sought," because she had never assented to an agreement to arbitrate the debt dispute.
Park also brought associated lawsuits against the arbitrator, Shurin, and the debt owner, FIA Card Services. Shurin moved for dismissal based on arbitral immunity.
The Court granted the motion for dismissal. In granting the motion, the Court rejected Park's argument that Shurin's alleged lack of jurisdiction over the dispute would deprive him of arbitral immunity. The Court noted that arbitrators are "functionally equivalent" to judges, and that "[j]udges do not lose their judicial immunity just because they lack jurisdiction in a case, so arbitral immunity should not disappear in like circumstances."
In explaining its ruling, the Court noted that arbitral immunity is necessary "to protect decisionmakers from undue influence, and the decision-making process from attack by dissatisfied litigants."
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