A federal district court in Ohio has confirmed a partial final award denying class certification of state employment law claims, finding no statutory grounds to vacate or modify the award.

In Haro v. NCR Corp., No. 3:04-CV-328, 2008 WL 2323785 (S.D. Ohio June 3, 2008), Haro brought several state and federal statutory claims against former employer NCR. NCR moved to compel arbitration of the claims in accordance with an arbitration agreement signed at the start of Haro's employment. The trial court granted the motion to compel.

The arbitrator issued a partial final award, holding that Haro's state law claims could not be certified for class arbitration. Haro moved for reconsideration, which was denied. NCR then moved to confirm the partial final award denying class arbitration of the state claims. Haro opposed the motion, alleging that his pending motion to amend claims warranted denial of the motion to confirm.

The Court found that Haro had neglected to allege any of the statutory grounds for modification or vacatur of an award, which required the court to confirm the award. Furthermore, the Court observed that Haro had exhausted any attempt at reconsideration of the arbitrator's holding regarding class certification of his state law claims, suggesting that the subject matter of the instant confirmation proceedings was in fact finally settled.