The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”) broadly requires courts to enforce arbitration agreements but exempts from its application arbitration “contracts of employment of seamen, railroad employees, or any other class of workers engaged in foreign or interstate commerce.” 9 U.S.C. § 1.
Some contracts give you the right to opt out of the forced arbitration clause within a certain period of time, often 30 to 60 days, after signing the agreement by notifying the company that you wish to opt out. Check your contract for the deadline and for specific instructions for opting out.
As per Section 34, a party to the arbitration agreement has to make an application for setting aside the award. But a legal representative in the case of any such party can also apply for it because he is a person claiming under that. An award that is set aside no longer remains applicable by law.
A court may vacate an award only if it finds that one of the limited grounds in the FAA (9 USC section 10) applies, namely: the award is a result of corruption or fraud; there was evident partiality or corruption by an arbitrator; there was arbitrator misconduct; or.
Unlike court decisions, arbitral awards generally cannot be appealed in the conventional sense. However, there are procedures for “annulling” or “setting aside” arbitral awards where the arbitral tribunal has committed a serious error. This is the most important recourse against an arbitral award.
Section 7 of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) provides: "Arbitrators ... may summon in writing any person to attend before them ... as a witness and in a proper case to bring with him or them any book, record, document, or paper which may be deemed material as evidence in the case." 9 U.S.C. § 7.
The merits of the dispute are not considered and the award can only be vacated where: (1) the award was procured by fraud or corruption; (2) there was corruption in the arbitrator; (3) the arbitrator committed misconduct resulting in substantial prejudice; (4) the arbitrators exceeded their powers; (5) the arbitrator ...
To vacate an award, the arbitrators must have known of a governing legal principle yet refused to apply it or ignored it, and the law ignored by the arbitrators must be clearly defined.
Section 144 deals with the rescission of arbitration awards and rulings. Any award may be varied or rescinded by the commissioner who issued the award or by any other commissioner appointed by the Director to do so. A party must apply for rescission.