Scott v. Prudential Securities

PUBLISH
IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
_______________
No. 96-9106
_______________
D. C. Docket No. 1:95-CV-3284-JEC
WILLIAM SUMNER SCOTT,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
versus
PRUDENTIAL SECURITIES, INC.,
Defendant-Appellee.
______________________________
Appeal from the United States District Court
for the Northern District of Georgia
______________________________
(May 18, 1998)
Before BIRCH, Circuit Judge, FAY, Senior Circuit Judge, and
COHILL*, Senior District Judge.
*
Honorable Maurice B. Cohill, Senior U.S. District Judge for
the Western District of Pennsylvania, sitting by designation.
BIRCH, Circuit Judge:
In this appeal, we decide whether the Member Arbitration Rules
of the National Futures Trading Association (“NFA”) permit NFA
arbitrators to decide whether a dispute is arbitrable. We must also
address whether an individual consents to arbitrate disputes with
other members of the NFA by becoming an associate member of the
NFA. In addition, the petitioner-appellant asks us to vacate the
arbitration award entered below pursuant to section 10 of the
Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 10, and on the non-statutory
ground that the award was arbitrary and capricious.1 The district
court held that the arbitrators did have the authority to determine
issues of arbitrability but, upon conducting an independent review,
the court made an alternative holding that the dispute was indeed
subject to NFA arbitration. The district court also rejected Scott's
attacks on the arbitrators' award and refused to vacate the award.
1
Although the petitioner-appellant raises a number of
additional challenges both to the arbitration award and to the
district court's rulings below, we conclude they are without merit
and decline to discuss them further.
2
Finally, the district court granted the respondent-appellee's motion
to confirm the award. Although we hold that the district court erred
when it found that the arbitrators had the authority to decide issues
of arbitrability, we agree with the district court's alternative holding
and its decision to confirm the arbitration award. We AFFIRM.
BACKGROUND
William S. Scott (“Scott”), the petitioner-appellant, formed a
Delaware corporation, Creative Strategies, Inc. (“CSI”), that acted as
the general partner of a Pennsylvania limited partnership, the
Creative Strategy Fund I, (the “Fund”). Scott was the sole
shareholder of CSI and the sole limited partner of the Fund. The
Fund subsequently opened a number of accounts with the
respondent-appellee, Prudential Securities, Inc. (“PSI”), for the
purpose of engaging in futures trading. Scott executed all the
documents required to open these accounts but structured the
transactions with the intent of avoiding personal liability for any
3
deficits in the accounts.2 He specifically refused PSI's request that
he execute a personal guarantee on the accounts.
These accounts lost a significant amount of money due to what
Scott alleges were PSI's mistakes in trading the accounts on a
margin. Scott further alleges that instead of correcting the mistakes,
PSI forged documents to support the transactions and demanded
payment for the deficit in the accounts. PSI then issued a demand
for arbitration before the NFA against Scott, the Fund, and CSI. In
October, 1992, the Fund filed a complaint with the Commodity
Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”), alleging that PSI had
committed a number of transgressions in connection with the
accounts and claiming damages. PSI responded by filing a
counterclaim in the CFTC proceeding that demanded payment of the
debit balances from Scott, the Fund, and CSI. The CFTC, however,
refused to consider PSI's claims against Scott individually, and the
2
Since the details of these arrangements are both lengthy
and complex, we confine our discussion to the details necessary to
understand the issues on appeal.
4
NFA granted a stay of PSI's arbitration proceedings pending the
outcome of the CFTC hearing.
In 1994, an administrative law judge (the “ALJ”) for the CFTC
decided that the allegations regarding PSI's conduct were without
merit and entered an award of $101,087.53 plus interest in PSI's
favor. In 1995, the CFTC heard an appeal of the ALJ's decision and
affirmed it in all material respects.3 At PSI's request, the NFA then
lifted the stay in the arbitration proceedings that PSI had initiated
against Scott in his personal capacity and notified both parties that
arbitration would commence on October 31, 1995.
On October 18, 1995, Scott petitioned the NFA to delay the
arbitration pending the outcome of a motion the Fund had filed in the
United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida
seeking a temporary restraining order (“TRO”) to enjoin the NFA
proceedings. Scott also petitioned the NFA staff for the option of
3
The CFTC's confirmation of the ALJ's decision spawned a
considerable amount of additional litigation. Suffice it to say
that another panel of our court affirmed the award without opinion.
See Prudential Securities, Inc. v. Creative Strategy, Inc., 107
F.3d 26 (11th Cir. 1997).
5
participating in the arbitration by telephone. On October 25, 1995,
the NFA denied Scott's request for a stay, and, on October 27, 1995,
the arbitrators' denied Scott's request to participate by telephone.
On October 30, 1995, the district court in Florida denied the Fund's
request for a TRO to enjoin the NFA arbitration. The arbitrators
subsequently commenced their hearing on October 31, 1995, in
Scott's absence. That morning, the arbitrators also refused an
attempted phone call from Scott, who sought either a delay in the
hearing or the option of participating by telephone. The arbitrators
did, however, accept and consider a fifty-six page affidavit detailing
Scott's position on the dispute.
On November 20, 1995, a three-person NFA arbitration panel
found that the Fund and CSI were Scott's “alter-egos” and pierced
the corporate veil to hold Scott liable for the debts of those entities.
The arbitrators awarded PSI $106,087.54 plus interest against Scott
personally. Scott brought a motion to vacate the arbitration award
in the United States District Court for the Northern District of
6
Georgia; PSI brought a motion to confirm the arbitration award.
After a resolving a number of procedural disputes,4 the district court
granted PSI's motion to confirm the award and denied Scott's motion
to vacate.
DISCUSSION
On appeal, Scott argues that the district court erroneously
decided that the NFA's Member Arbitration Rules gave the NFA
arbitrators the authority to resolve disputes about arbitrability (i.e.,
whether a particular dispute is subject to arbitration). Scott also
appeals the district court's alternative holding that, even if the NFA
arbitrators did not have the power to decide issues of arbitrability,
the alter-ego liability dispute between PSI and Scott was
nonetheless subject to arbitration. Finally, Scott attacks the
4
Scott raises a number of these procedural disputes on
appeal and asks us to reverse the district court's rulings. Upon
review, we find his contentions to be without merit.
7
arbitrators' award on a number of different grounds and asks us to
vacate the award pursuant to section 10 of the FAA, because the
award was arbitrary or capricious, and because the NFA's filing fees
violated his rights under the Florida Constitution. PSI defends the
district court's opinion and the NFA arbitrators' award on all grounds
and asks us to affirm the district court's confirmation of the award.
I. Arbitrability of the Dispute
Scott argues that the NFA arbitrators did not have the authority
to enter a judgment in his dispute with PSI. It is well established that
arbitration is a creature of contract and no party can be compelled
to submit a dispute to arbitration without having given prior
contractual consent to do so. See AT&T Tech., Inc. v.
Communications Workers, 475 U.S. 643, 649, 106 S. Ct. 1415,
1418, 89 L. Ed. 2d 648 (1986). Although the United States Supreme
Court has made it clear that, the courts, not arbitrators, ordinarily will
decide whether or not a particular dispute is arbitrable, the parties
may choose to have arbitrators resolve even the question of
8
arbitrability. Id. at 649, 106 S. Ct. at 1418 (unless the parties
“clearly and unmistakably” provide otherwise “the question of
arbitrability–whether . . . [an arbitration] agreement creates a duty for
the parties to arbitrate the particular grievance–is undeniably an
issue for judicial determination.”). The arbitrators in this case, by
entering an award against Scott on the merits, implicitly decided that
they had the power to decide questions of arbitrability and decided
that the dispute was arbitrable. As we must defer to the arbitrators'
conclusion that the dispute was arbitrable only if we agree that the
parties clearly and unmistakably consented to have them decide
issues of arbitrability, see First Options of Chicago, Inc. v. Kaplan,
514 U.S. 938, 943, 115 S. Ct. 1920, 1923, 131 L. Ed. 2d 985 (1995),
we will address that question first.
A. Competence de la Competence
In this case, section 2 of NFA Member Arbitration Rules, which
requires all members and associates to arbitrate disputes, provides
9
the only possible justification for the arbitrator's implicit conclusion
that they had the authority to resolve questions of arbitrability.5
Scott, however, argues that the language in the NFA rules is not
broad enough to permit the arbitrators to decide the issue of
arbitrability.
The Supreme Court has explained that courts should not
assume that parties have agreed to arbitrate arbitrability unless
there is clear and unmistakable evidence to that effect. See First
Options, 514 U.S. at 944, 115 S. Ct. at 1924 (quoting AT&T Tech.,
475 U.S. at 649, 106 S. Ct. at 1418-19)). To determine whether the
parties agreed to submit the question of arbitrability to the
arbitrators, we must refer to “ordinary state-law principles that
govern the formation of contracts.” First Options, 514 U.S. at 944,
115 S. Ct. at 1924.
5
Scott's arguments that he was not bound by the NFA's
arbitration rules go to the issue of whether the arbitrators erred
by finding that he had agreed to arbitrate the merits of the
dispute rather than the issue of who should have decided that
question. Accordingly, we leave Scott's argument on that point for
subsequent discussion in part I(B).
10
Regrettably, neither the parties nor the district court have dwelt
on the question of which state's principles of contract law govern this
question. Scott apparently executed a Form 8-R, the document that
registered him with the NFA, in Florida and sent it to the NFA in
Illinois. Given that none of the relevant documents appears to
contain a choice of law provision, it would appear that either Florida
or Illinois law applies.6 We, however, need not resolve this choice
of law problem because the relevant law in both states is essentially
in harmony. Both Florida and Illinois require courts to interpret a
contract so as to give effect to the intent of the parties. See e.g.,
6
It is axiomatic that a federal district court, sitting in
diversity, applies the choice of law rules of the state in which it
sits. See Klaxon Co. v. Stentor Elec. Mfg. Co., 313 U.S. 487, 61
S. Ct. 1020, 85 L. Ed. 1477 (1941). Since the parties brought this
case in the Northern District of Georgia, we observe that, in cases
of contract construction, Georgia applies the law of the state
where the parties made their agreement or where it is to be
performed. See Allstate Ins. Co. v. Duncan, 218 Ga. App. 552, 553,
462 S.E.2d 638, 640 (1995). On the record in this case, therefore,
either Florida or Illinois law applies. We note that, although the
question of which state's law should govern this question is an
important one, the courts have not focused upon this issue. See
e.g., Paladino v. Avnet Computer Tech. Inc., 134 F.3d 1054, 1061
n.1 (11th Cir. 1998) (Tjoflat, J. and Cox, J. concurring)(noting
that the parties had not specified which state's law should apply
in a similar situation); Merrill, Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith,
Inc. v. Cohen, 62 F.3d 381 (11th Cir. 1995) (deciding that the
parties had not clearly and unmistakably agreed to arbitrate
arbitrability without a single reference to state law).
11
Mayflower Corp. v. Davis, 655 So. 2d 1134, 1137 (Fl. Dist. Ct. App.
1994) (“The intention of the parties governs the construction of
contracts.”); American States Ins. Co. v. Koloms, 687 N.E.2d 72, 75
(Ill. 1997) (same). More specifically, courts in both states have
concluded that even broad, elastic language in an arbitration clause
cannot, without more, support the clear and unmistakable conclusion
that the parties intended to submit issues of arbitrability to
arbitrators. The Supreme Court of Illinois, for example, recently held
that a contract providing that “any controversy between us arising
out of . . . this agreement shall be submitted to arbitration” was “at
best, silent on the question of who should decide questions of
arbitrability.” Roubik v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.,
No. 82752, (Ill. Feb. 20, 1998). A Florida court interpreting
substantially similar contract language also held that the parties had
not evidenced an intent, as a matter of Florida contract law, to permit
the arbitrators to decide issues of arbitrability:
12
The agreement in this case does not contain any
language specifically authorizing the arbitration panel to
decide arbitrability issues; nor does it contain any broad
or all-inclusive language that implicitly authorizes the
arbitration panel to decide such issues.
Romano v. Goodlette Office Park, Ltd,, 700 So.2d 62, 64 (1997);
accord North Augusta Assoc. Ltd. Partnership v. 1815 Exchange,
Inc., 220 Ga. App. 790, 469 S.E.2d 759 (1996) (same under Georgia
law). But see Smith Barney Shearson, Inc. v. Sacharow, 91 N.Y.2d
39, 689 N.E.2d 884, 666 N.Y.S.2d 990 (1997) (reaching the opposite
conclusion under New York law).7
Section 2 of the NFA's arbitration rules states that: “[e]xcept as
provided in Sections 4 and 5 of these Rules . . . , disputes between
and among Members and Associates shall be arbitrated under these
Rules . . . .”8 R1-7, Ex. G at 4. The language at issue in this case,
therefore, is substantially narrower than the arbitration clauses
7
But see also Paine Webber Inc. v. Bybyk, 81 F.3d 1193, 1199
(2d Cir. 1996) (“The words 'any and all' are elastic enough to
encompass disputes over whether . . . a claim is within the scope
of arbitration.”).
8
Section 2 contains a number of additional exceptions, none
of which are relevant to this appeal. See R1-7, Ex. G at 4.
13
discussed in the Illinois and Florida decisions above. Although we
admit that the language of section 2 is susceptible to a reasonable
construction in favor of permitting the arbitrators to determine
arbitrability, we cannot conclude that section 2 evidences a “clear
and unmistakable” commitment to that position under either Florida
or Illinois principles of contract construction. Accordingly, we hold
that the arbitrators did not have the power to rule on the question of
whether Scott had consented to arbitrate.
B. The District Court's Determination of Arbitrability
Given our decision that the parties did not consent to have the
arbitrators determine whether their dispute was arbitrable, we now
must make an independent determination of whether the parties'
dispute was eligible for arbitration. See First Options, 514 U.S. at
943, 115 S. Ct. at 1924. In an alternative holding, the district court
14
expressly found that Scott had consented to arbitrate his dispute
with PSI by virtue of his registration with the CFTC and his status as
an associate member of the NFA. As we conduct our review of this
alternative holding, we accept all findings of fact that are not clearly
erroneous but decide questions of law de novo. Id. at 947-48, 115
S. Ct. at 1926.9
Scott argues that he never agreed to arbitrate disputes in front
of the NFA. As we observed in United States Fidelity & Guar. Co.
v. West Point Constr. Co., 837 F.2d 1507, 1508 (11th Cir. 1988) (per
curiam), however, parties may bind themselves to arbitrate disputes
by signing a contract that incorporates an arbitration agreement by
reference. Moreover, in a case substantially similar to the one
before us, another Court of Appeals has held that a petitioner who
registered as an associate member of the NFA consented to
arbitrate all disputes with other members or associates pursuant to
9
We note that the Supreme Court has rejected our circuit's
previous practice of reviewing a district court's decision to
confirm an arbitration award with the more lenient abuse of
discretion standard. See First Options, 514 U.S. at 948, 115 S.
Ct. at 1926.
15
the NFA Member Arbitration Rules that had been incorporated in his
registration. See R.J. O'Brien & Assoc. v. Pipken, 64 F.3d 257, 260-
261 (7th Cir. 1995).
Following the Pipken court's reasoning, the district court found
that Scott was a CFTC-registered associated person.10 Indeed,
Scott admitted as much in the documents he filed with the district
court, and PSI confirmed his status as an associated person by filing
the uncontested affidavit of a paralegal who checked Scott's status
with the NFA registration hotline.11 In order to register with the
CFTC as an “associated person,” Scott completed and signed a
Form 8-R application on April 12, 1992. The Form 8-R expressly
notes that it constitutes an application for “registration . . . as an
10
The Commodity Exchange Act (the “CEA”), 7 U.S.C. §§ 1-25,
regulates those who participate in transactions involving
commodities futures. Persons who actively participate in that
industry, including futures commissions merchants, introducing
brokers, and associated persons must register under the CEA. See
7 U.S.C. §§ 6f(a) & 6k(1). For a more complete explanation of the
regulatory system, including Congress's delegation of the
registration function to the CFTC and NFA, see Pipkin, 64 F.3d at
259.
11
As an associated person Scott was, by definition, required
to register as an associate member of the NFA. See Pipken, 64 F.3d
at 261 (citing the NFA Member Arbitration Rules).
16
Associated Person . . . and application for NFA Associate
Membership.” R1-7, Exh. J at 2 (emphasis added). The Form 8-R
also states that execution of the application constitutes “an express
agreement by [the applicant] that, if registered as an Associate, [the
applicant] shall become and remain bound by all NFA requirements
as then and thereafter in effect.” Id. at 7 (emphasis added). Article
XVIII(u) of the NFA's Articles of Incorporation and Rule 1-1(q) of the
NFA's Compliance Rules both define the term “requirements” as
“any duty, restriction, procedure, or standard imposed by a charter,
bylaw, rule, regulation, resolution or similar provision.” Id., Ex. K at
3, 5. The NFA added one such requirement on May 1, 1992, when
it adopted its Member Arbitration Rules. Section 2 of those rules
provides for mandatory arbitration of disputes “between and among
Members and Associates.” Id., Exh. G. at 4.
Although we have already held that this language was not
broad enough to constitute a clear and unmistakable agreement to
arbitrate issues of arbitrability, our independent review of the district
17
court's decision leads us to conclude that the district court correctly
held that Scott had agreed, in his personal capacity, to arbitrate
disputes with other members and associates of the NFA. PSI's
status as a member of the NFA--not its trading relationship with the
Fund--, therefore, gave it the right to demand arbitration of the
dispute with Scott because PSI and Scott were both subject to the
NFA's arbitration regime. See Pipken, 64 F.3d at 260-61.
Scott emphasizes that his dealings with PSI had no nexus to
his Form 8-R registration or his association with the NFA, but no
such nexus is necessary to support our finding that Scott had agreed
to arbitrate his dispute with PSI.12 Nothing in section 2 limits the
availability of arbitration to disputes that are somehow connected to
the parties' association with the NFA. Moreover, none of Scott's
12
In making this argument, Scott repeatedly asserts that he
structured the Fund's accounts with PSI with the specific intent to
avoid individual liability. Indeed, relying on this logic Scott
essentially denies that he has any dispute with PSI at all.
Scott's arguments about the structure of the accounts and his
personal liability, however, have nothing to do with the issue at
hand: whether Scott's personal status as an associate member of the
NFA required him to arbitrate the merits of an alleged dispute with
PSI.
18
attacks on the arbitrators' jurisdiction over his dispute with PSI go to
the specific exceptions to NFA arbitration enumerated in section 2
of the Member Arbitration Rules. Finally, we must resolve any
doubts about the scope of arbitrable issues in favor of arbitration.
See First Options, 514 U.S. at 944-45, 115 S. Ct. at 1924.13
Accordingly, we affirm the district court's alternative decision and
hold that Scott was subject to NFA arbitration pursuant to the
arbitration clause enumerated in section 2 of the NFA's Member
Arbitration Rules, as incorporated as a requirement for his
membership in the NFA.
II. Grounds for Vacating the Arbitration Award
Scott also challenges the arbitrators' award on Section 10 of
the FAA and on non-statutory grounds. Although Scott (having
received the benefit of a generous reading of his district court filings)
13
As the First Options Court explained, this is precisely the
reverse of the presumption that we applied to the question of
whether the parties agreed upon who should decide the question of
arbitrability. Id. at 944-45, 115 S. Ct. at 1924-25.
19
has raised a number of legally cognizable attacks on the arbitration
award, the overwhelming thrust of his argument is that the
arbitrators misapplied the law to his case. It is settled law, however,
that “[c]ourts are generally prohibited from vacating an arbitration on
the basis of errors of law or interpretation.”14 O.R. Sec. Inc. v.
Professional Planning Assoc., 857 F.2d 742, 746 (11th Cir. 1988)
(citing Wilko v. Swan, 346 U.S. 427, 74 S. Ct. 182, 98 L. Ed. 168(1958), overruled on other grounds, Rodriguez de Quijas v.
Shearson/American Express, Inc., 490 U.S. 477, 109 S. Ct. 1917,
104 L. Ed. 2d 526 (1989)). With this caveat firmly in mind, we
examine Scott's arguments in support of vacating the arbitration
award.
Having determined that the arbitrators had jurisdiction to
determine the merits of the dispute between PSI and Scott, our
review of their decision is necessarily limited. We must “give
14
For this reason, we will not address Scott's contention
that the arbitrators' award ignores applicable principles of
corporate law or Florida's statute of frauds.
20
considerable leeway to the arbitrator, setting aside his or her
decision only in certain narrow circumstances.” First Options, 514
U.S. at 943, 115 S. Ct. at 1924 (citing 9 U.S.C. § 10). The FAA does
not permit courts to “roam unbridled” in their oversight of arbitration
awards. Marshall & Co. v. Duke, 941 F. Supp. 1207, 1210 (N.D. Ga.
1995) (internal quotation omitted), aff'd, 114 F.3d 188 (11th Cir.
1997) (per curiam). Scott, as the moving party, bears the burden of
setting forth sufficient grounds to vacate the arbitration award. See
O.R. Sec., Inc., 857 F.2d at 746. Finally, as explained above, we
accept the district court's findings of fact to the extent they are not
clearly erroneous and review questions of law de novo. See
Marshall & Co., 114 F.3d at 188.
A. Statutory Grounds
21
Section 10 of the FAA provides a number of specific statutory
bases for vacating an arbitration award.15 Scott urges us to vacate
the NFA's arbitration award on the following three grounds: (1) the
arbitration award was procured by fraud, see 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(1); (2)
the arbitrators exhibited evident partiality, id. § 10(a)(2); and (3) the
arbitrators were guilty of misconduct, id. § 10(a)(3). We find Scott's
arguments concerning fraud before the arbitrators to be without
merit,16 but address his remaining contentions in turn.
15
Section 10 of the FAA provides in pertinent part:
(a) In any of the following cases the United States court
in and for the district wherein the award was made may
make an order vacating the award upon the application of
any party to the arbitration–
(1) Where the award was procured by corruption,
fraud, or undue means.
(2) Where there was evident partiality or
corruption in the arbitrators, or either of them.
(3) Where the arbitrators were guilty of misconduct
in refusing to postpone the hearing, upon
sufficient cause shown, or in refusing to hear
evidence pertinent and material to the controversy;
or of any other misbehavior by which the rights of
any party have been prejudiced.
(4) Where the arbitrators exceeded their powers, or
so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final,
and definite award upon the subject matter
submitted was not made. . . .
9 U.S.C. § 10.
16
Scott's briefs on the fraud argument all but admit that the
arbitrators had all the material information before them, a fact
that precludes vacatur under § 10(a)(1). See Bonar v. Dean Witter
Reynolds, Inc., 835 F.2d 1378, 1383 (11th Cir. 1988); accord A.G.
Edwards & Sons, Inc. v. McCollough, 967 F.2d 1401, 1404 (9th Cir.
1992) (per curiam) (“where the fraud or undue means is not only
22
First, Scott asserts that the district court should have vacated
the arbitration award because the arbitrators were biased against
him. Section 10 of the FAA permits vacatur “where there was
evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators.” 9 U.S.C. §
10(a)(2). To vacate an arbitration award for evident partiality, the
moving party must present evidence that would support a
“reasonable impression of partiality” on the arbitrator's behalf. See
Lifecare Int'l, Inc. v. CD Med., Inc., 68 F.3d 429, 433 (11th Cir.
1995), modified on other grounds, 85 F.3d 519 (11th Cir. 1996). The
assertion of partiality, however, must be “direct, definite and capable
of demonstration rather than remote, uncertain and speculative.” Id.(quoting Middlesex Mut. Ins. Co. v. Levine, 675 F.2d 1197, 1202
(11th Cir. 1982)).
discoverable, but discovered and brought to the attention of the
arbitrators a disappointed party will not be given a second bite at
the apple.”). We decline Scott's invitation to overrule Bonar and
note that, even if we were so inclined (and we are not), the law in
this circuit is emphatic that only the entire court sitting en banc
can overrule a prior panel opinion in the absence of an intervening
Supreme Court decision. See United States v. Woodard, 938 F.2d
1255, 1258 (11th Cir. 1991) (per curiam).
23
Scott's allegations of partiality arise out of the fact that each of
the arbitrators in his case are in the business of collecting debit
balances from customers.17 Scott, therefore, alleges that because
he sought to avoid the collection of such a debit he could not receive
a fair hearing before the arbitrators in question. As evidence in
support of his contentions, Scott attacks the arbitration award
against him and argues that it is so unsupported by the law that it
could have only been the product of partiality.18
17
Scott arrives at this conclusion because each of the
arbitrators assigned to hear his case have connections to Futures
Commissions Merchants, who, he alleges, are the only entities
entitled to collect debit balances from customers under the CEA.
Scott also argues that, because persons with such ties to Future
Commissions Merchants dominate the NFA, he could not receive a fair
hearing. Such an attack on the forum, however, is far too
attenuated to satisfy the prerequisites for an attack under §
10(a)(2). See Woods v. Saturn Distrib. Corp., 78 F.3d 424, 427-30
(9th Cir. 1996) (rejecting a claim of bias based on the
arbitrators' dependence on the makers of Saturn automobiles);
Pompano-Windy City Partners v. Bear, Sterns & Co., 698 F. Supp.
504, 517 (S.D.N.Y. 1988) (similar ruling in the securities
context).
18
Scott repeats this tactic throughout his briefs by
injecting his disagreement with the arbitrators on the merits of
the dispute into his discussions of the arbitrators' jurisdiction
and his arguments for vacatur under section 10. We will address
Scott's contention that the arbitrators disregarded the law below,
but decline his invitation to conflate that dispute with the
section 10 analysis.
24
Scott's claims amount to precisely the vague, remote, and
speculative charges that we have held cannot support an order to
vacate an arbitration award. Scott's allegations attack only the
nature of experience that the arbitrators have in the commodities
trading business and assume a bias against his position. The
courts have repeatedly explained, however, that an arbitrator's
experience in an industry, far from requiring a finding of partiality, is
one of the factors that can make arbitration a superior means of
resolving disputes. See, Commonwealth Coatings Corp. v.
Continental Cas. Co., 393 U.S. 145, 150, 89 S. Ct. 337, 340, 21 L.
Ed. 2d 301 (White, J., concurring) (“It is often because they are men
of affairs, not apart from but of the marketplace, that they are
effective in their adjudicatory function.”). Moreover, Scott has
neither pointed us to any evidence of either actual bias on the part
of the arbitrators nor identified any business connection to PSI that
the arbitrators failed to disclose to the parties before undertaking the
25
dispute.19 Accordingly, we affirm the district court's decision not to
vacate the arbitration award for evident partiality.
Second, Scott argues that the NFA arbitrators, by refusing to
postpone the arbitration hearing and refusing to allow Scott to
participate by telephone, were guilty of misconduct. The FAA
permits a district court to vacate an arbitration award in the event
that: (1) the arbitrators refused to postpone the hearing upon the
showing of sufficient cause; (2) the arbitrators refused to hear
pertinent and material evidence; or (3) the arbitrators were guilty of
any other misbehavior that resulted in prejudice to the rights of any
party. See 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(3). As the district court correctly
observed, however, a mere difference of opinion between the
arbitrators and the moving party as to the correct resolution of a
procedural problem will not support vacatur under section 10(a)(3).
19
Scott also alleges that NFA's Chairman of the Board is the
president of a company that has a dispute with the Fund. Without
any assertion that this particular individual played any role in
his case, however, Scott's allegations remain too vague and
attenuated to support a finding of evident partiality under our
case law.
26
See generally Robbins v. Day, 954 F.2d 679, 685 (11th Cir. 1992)
(“An arbitrator enjoys wide latitude in conducting an arbitration
hearing.”), overruled on other grounds, First Options, 514 U.S. at
948, 115 S. Ct. at 1926. Moreover, we must recall the basic policy
behind arbitration, which is to permit parties to resolve their disputes
in an expeditious manner without all the formalities and procedures
that might attend full fledged litigation. See Schmidt v. Finberg, 942
F.2d 1571, 1573 (11th Cir. 1991).
We note that the express language of the statute requires the
party seeking a postponement to advance a “sufficient cause” for the
delay. 9 U.S.C. § 10(a)(3). In reviewing an arbitrator's refusal to
delay a hearing, we must decide whether there was “any reasonable
basis” for failing to postpone the hearing to receive relevant
evidence. Schmidt, 942 F.2d at 1574. In Schmidt, for example, we
held that an arbitration panel's possible reliance on any one of a
number of factors, including the desire for an expeditious resolution
of the dispute, justified its refusal to postpone a hearing to
27
accommodate a party's competing scheduling obligations and,
therefore, did not require the vacatur of an arbitration award. Id. at
1574-74; see also ARW Exploration Corp. v. Aguirre, 45 F.3d 1455,
1464 (10th Cir. 1995) (party's “flimsy” claim of unavailability due to
overseas travel was insufficient to require delay of the arbitration);
accord Hilliard v. J.C. Bradford & Co., 494 S.E.2d 38, 44 (Ga. App.
1997) (a flare-up in a party's long-term, stress related illness the
evening before a scheduled arbitration hearing did not require a
postponement).
In this case, the district court found that Scott had not advanced
any compelling excuse for his absence before the arbitrators on
October 31, 1995. Scott argued that he could not appear before the
arbitrators in Atlanta because the demands of ongoing litigation in
Miami required his presence there. The evidence is undisputed,
however, that Scott was under no court imposed obligation to stay
in Miami.20 Moreover, the district court in Miami rejected Scott's
20
Scott devotes a great deal of his brief to a letter
prepared by PSI's counsel that states Scott faced no court imposed
28
application for a TRO to enjoin the arbitration on October, 30, 1995,
the day before the arbitration was to begin. Scott's arguments
amount to nothing more than the self-imposed scheduling obstacles
that we have held do not require an arbitrator to postpone a hearing.
Accordingly, we affirm the district court's decision on this point.
Next, Scott argues that the arbitrators committed misconduct
by refusing to allow him to participate in the arbitration hearing by
telephone. Whether we consider this argument as a refusal to
consider pertinent evidence or as “other misbehavior,” under section
10(a)(3), we note that Scott must show that the arbitrators' refusal
to permit him to participate by telephone caused him some
prejudice. See Marshall & Co., 941 F. Supp. at 1212. An arbitrator
need not consider all the evidence the parties seek to introduce but
may reject evidence that is cumulative or irrelevant. See Robbins,
954 F.2d at 685. Scott argues that, had he been permitted to
participate by telephone, he would have been able to explain how
barrier to appearing before the arbitrators on October 31, 1995.
His arguments and allegations on this matter are without merit.
29
PSI had disregarded the limitations on the Fund's accounts. This
evidence, however, was irrelevant to the question of alter-ego
liability before the NFA arbitrators. Accordingly, the arbitrators did
not refuse to consider pertinent evidence by refusing Scott's
participation by telephone.
Finally, the arbitrators did not engage in misconduct that denied
Scott his right to a fair hearing. As we observed in Robbins, the FAA
permits arbitration to proceed “with only a summary hearing and with
restricted inquiry into factual issues. . . . [The arbitrator] need only
give each party the opportunity to present its arguments and
evidence.” 954 F.2d at 685 (emphasis added) (citations omitted).
Although the arbitrators refused Scott's participation by telephone,
the arbitrators did conduct a hearing, of which Scott had notice and
the opportunity to attend, and they considered Scott's fifty-six page
affidavit setting out his arguments and evidence. Accordingly, we
find no misconduct on the part of the arbitrators and affirm the
30
district court's decision not to vacate the arbitration award on the
statutory grounds.
B. Non-Statutory Grounds
In addition to the grounds for vacatur set out in the FAA, the
courts have recognized a number of non-statutory grounds that
permit a district court to vacate an arbitration award. In the Eleventh
Circuit, a party may challenge an arbitration award without reliance
on the FAA if the award is: (1) arbitrary and capricious; (2) in
contravention of public policy; or (3) entered in “manifest disregard
of the law.” See Montes v. Shearson Lehman Bros, Inc., 128 F.3d
1456 (11th Cir. 1997) (describing the first two grounds and adopting
the third). On appeal, Scott has limited his argument to his
contention that the arbitrators' award was arbitrary and capricious.21
21
We note that, before the Montes opinion, an attack based
on the arbitrators' manifest disregard of the law was not an option
in this circuit–a point not lost on either PSI or the district
court. As Montes was not delivered until November 24, 1997–more
than a month after oral argument in this case–the parties have not
briefed the issue. Although we typically do not consider arguments
not raised by the parties on appeal, we note that Scott's briefs
make clear his charge that the NFA arbitrators (as well as the ALJ
31
An arbitration award will not be held to be arbitrary and
capricious unless “a ground for the arbitrator's decision can[not] be
inferred from the facts of the case.” Raiford v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce,
Fenner & Smith, 903 F.2d 1410, 1413 (11th Cir. 1990) (internal
quotation omitted). In Raiford, for example, we held that the
arbitrators' calculation of a damage award was not arbitrary and
capricious because, although the arbitrators had not given any
explanation of their award, “the arbitrators could have fashioned their
award based on any number of valid reasons.” Id. (emphasis
added). Similarly, in this case, it is not difficult to discern a reason for
the arbitrators' decision to hold Scott liable for the debts of the Fund.
The facts of this case and the arbitrators' award suggest that the
and CFTC arbitrators) have ignored the law. We further note,
however, that Scott's arguments do not approach the type of
disregard for the law that we found in Montes. In that case, we
found that one of the parties had expressly conceded that the law
did not support his position and urged the arbitrators to ignore
the law to find in his favor. See Montes, 128 F.3d at 1461. That
particular fact led us to distinguish the case from our precedents
refusing to vacate an award that the moving party claimed to be the
product of legal error, and led us to vacate the award for manifest
disregard of the law. Id. at 1461-62; see also id. at 1464 (Carnes
J., concurring). The record in this case and Scott's arguments
suggest nothing more than a disagreement over the application of
the law not its manifest disregard.
32
arbitrators were convinced that Scott so dominated and controlled the
Fund and CSI that he ought to be held liable for their debts on a
theory of alter-ego liability. Scott's attempts to argue that this
conclusion was arbitrary and capricious amount to nothing more than
a rehashing of his disagreements with that result. As we have
observed before, a mere error in the application of the law will not
support the reversal of an arbitration award. See Montes, 128 F.3d
at 1460. Accordingly, we hold that the district court correctly denied
Scott's pleas to vacate the arbitration award.22
CONCLUSION
On appeal, Scott asks us to reverse the district court's ruling
that the NFA's Member Arbitration Rules gave the arbitrators the
22
Scott's arguments that the NFA's excessive filing fees
violate his right of access to the courts, guaranteed by Florida's
Constitution, are without merit. Even if Scott could somehow
convince us that Florida's constitutional protections apply to an
allegedly federal agency's conduct of an arbitration hearing in
Georgia, his arguments find no support in Florida law. See
Terminix Int'l Co. v. Ponzio, 693 So. 2d 104, 109 (Fla. Dist. Ct.
App. 1997) (“The short answer to these arguments [invoking
Florida's constitutional protections] is that the plaintiffs waived
these rights by consenting to arbitrate . . . .”). Scott's equal
protection attack on the same NFA fee, in addition to having no
merit, was raised for the first time on appeal. See Irving v.
Mazda Motor Corp., 136 F.3d 764, 769 (11th Cir. 1998) (declining to
address an argument not raised in the district court).
33
power to resolve issues of arbitrability. He also asks that we reverse
the district court's alternative, independent holding that his status as
an associate member of the NFA required him to arbitrate this
dispute with PSI. Finally, he urges us to vacate the arbitration award
for a variety of statutory and non-statutory reasons. We hold that the
district court erred when it found that the NFA Member Rules gave
the arbitrators the authority to determine whether the dispute was
subject to arbitration. We agree, however, with the district court's
independent holding that Scott's association with the NFA required
him to arbitrate the dispute with PSI. We also find no error in the
district court's decision to deny Scott's motion to vacate the
arbitration award or its decision to confirm that award in PSI's favor.
Accordingly, we AFFIRM the decision of the district court.
34