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A state court in California confirmed an arbitration award over objections that the arbitrator failed to properly disclose his relationship with another arbitrator because the party did not object to the arbitrator after the relationship was disclosed and failed to present evidence that any additional disclosure was required.
In Evans v. Terminix International Co., No. F05166, 2007 WL 158629 (Cal. Ct. App. Jan. 23, 2007), Evans, a former employee of Terminix, filed a wrongful termination suit against Terminix. The parties' dispute was submitted to arbitration.
The original arbitrator disqualified himself at Evan's request. A second arbitrator was appointed, who ultimately ruled against Evans and in favor of Terminix. Evans then asked the court vacate the arbitration award because the second arbitrator failed to disclose that he was familiar with the original arbitrator.
However, the Court did not find grounds for vacatur. The second arbitrator did disclose his relationship with the first arbitrator, and neither party objected before or after this disclosure. Additionally, Evans failed to present any evidence of a significant failure to disclose. Therefore, the Court confirmed the award in Terminix's favor.
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