Wednesday, February 12, 2014

A-Rod Drops ADR Challenge

NY Yankee third baseman Alex Rodriguez has apparently withdrawn his lawsuits filed as an "appeal" of an arbitrator's ruling that suspends him from playing for the entire 2014 season as a penalty for using performance enhancing drugs. Legal commentators are not surprised.  The lawsuit had zero chance of success.  It is one of the hallmarks of arbitration that appeals of arbitrator's rulings cannot merely allege that the arbitrator was wrong. The arbitrator could have made his decision based on the testimony of a witness who said that heard from a guy who was abducted by space aliens that the aliens supplied A-Rod with the PEDs, and the decision would not likely be overturned. Unless there was fraud or extortion or some other similarly untoward conduct by the arbitrator or the arbitrator exceeded the parameters of the dispute submitted to him or her for resolution, the courts will not disturb the arbitrator's ruling.  That is why the issue of mandatory arbitration clauses in employment contracts is so important.

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