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A federal court in Texas allowed a non-signatory to compel arbitration of a dispute because the signatory's claims relied on the contract containing the arbitration clause.
In JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. v. Oklahoma Oncology & Hematology, P.C., Civil Action No. H-06-0645 (S.D. Tex. Feb. 26, 2007), AOR Management Company of Oklahoma (AOR-OK) entered into agreements with Cancer Care Associates (CCA). A dispute arose regarding interest in funds received through CCA, and AOR-OK initiated arbitration proceedings in conjunction with its parent company, U.S. Oncology, Inc. (USON).
CCA argued that USON was not an appropriate party for arbitration, since only AOR-OK and CCA were named parties in the applicable agreements. However, the Court granted a motion to compel arbitration in favor of USON and AOR-OK.
A non-signatory may compel arbitration when: (1) the signatory must rely on the terms of the agreement in asserting claims against the non-signatory; or (2) when the signatory raises allegations of substantially interdependent and concerted misconduct by both the non-signatory and one or more of the signatories. Grigson v. Creative Artists Agency, L.L.C., 210 F.3d 524, 527 (5th Cir. 2000).
Applying Grigson, the Court first determined that ownership of the funds at issue could not be established without an examination of the document containing an arbitration clause. Also, CCA's allegations against AOR-OK were inextricably intertwined with its allegations against USON. Accordingly, both prongs of Grigson had been satisfied, and the Court permitted USON to compel arbitration with CCA.
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