Delaware Business Litigation Report

Supreme Court Decides Who Decides

Viacom International Inc. v. Winshall, C.A. 513, 2012 (Del.  July 16, 2013)

When there is an argument over whether part of a dispute is subject to the Court or the arbitrator's judgment, there has been considerable confusion.  The classic formulation of the test is:

Issues of substantive arbitrability are gateway questions relating to the scope of an arbitration provision and its applicability to a given dispute, and are presumptively decided by the court. Procedural arbitrability issues concern whether the parties have complied with the terms of an arbitration provision, and are presumptively handled by arbitrators.  These issues include whether prerequisites such as time limits, notice, laches, estoppel, and other conditions precedent to an obligation to arbitrate have been met, as well as allegations of waiver, delay, or a like defense to arbitrability.

In this Supreme Court decision, the Court adopts this test at first and then seems to back away from it for a new test of its own.  The new test seems to be whether the dispute is simply part of the overall controversy.  If it is, then the arbitrator decides it.  Now that may be a misguided view of the holding, but it is the best that I can do.

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