ORDER – PAGE 1 

 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 

 NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS 

 DALLAS DIVISION 

JOHN RICHARDS, § 

 § 

 Plaintiff, § 

 § 

v. § Civil Action No. 3:22-CV-758-N 

 § 

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS § 

MACHINES CORPORATION, § 

 § 

 Defendant. § 

 MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER 

 This Order addresses Plaintiff John Richards’ motion to vacate the arbitration 

award [2]. Because Richards did not serve Defendant International Business Machine 

Corporation (“IBM”) within the statutory period to challenge the award, the Court denies 

the motion. 

I. RICHARDS’ TERMINATION, HIS CLAIMS AGAINST 

 IBM, AND THE PARTIES’ ARBITRATION

 IBM employed Richards from 2014 to 2018. Pl.’s Pet. To Vacate ¶ 10 [1]. Richards 

alleges that as part of a discriminatory scheme to build a younger workforce, IBM 

terminated older employees through a series of layoffs. Id. ¶¶ 11, 12, 14. Richards was 50 

years old when IBM terminated him as part of a reduction-in-force in July 2018. Id. ¶¶ 

15–17. Richards received a modest severance payment in exchange for his waiver of 

almost all legal claims other than those under the Age Discrimination in Employment Act 

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ORDER – PAGE 2 

(“ADEA”)1

. Id. ¶ 14. The agreement provided that claims under the ADEA must be 

pursued in individual arbitration. Id. 

 Richards filed his demand initiating the underlying arbitration in January 2019. 

Id. ¶ 21. The Arbitrator issued a final award granting summary judgment to IBM on the 

ADEA claim in January 2021. Id. ¶ 22. In November 2021, Richards filed a motion 

pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60 and Rule 29 of the JAMS Employment 

Arbitration Rules and Procedures requesting that the Arbitrator reopen the arbitration. 

Id. ¶ 23. Richards sought to present new evidence that IBM engaged in a companywide 

plan to reduce the number of older workers. Id. The Arbitrator denied the motion in 

December 2021, ruling that he had no further jurisdiction to consider Richards’ motion. 

Id. ¶ 24. Richards now moves to vacate the arbitration award, arguing that the Arbitrator 

exceeded his authority as set forth in the parties’ arbitration agreement by refusing to 

consider the motion for relief from judgment. 

II. LEGAL STANDARD FOR VACATUR UNDER 

THE FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT 

 The Court considers Richards’ motion under a highly deferential standard of review. 

Kergosien v. Ocean Energy, Inc., 390 F.3d 346, 352 (5th Cir. 2004). The Federal 

Arbitration Act (“FAA”) permits a district court to vacate an arbitration award, but only in 

limited circumstances. See 9 U.S.C. § 10(a). Though several circuits previously held that 

a court may properly vacate an arbitration award based on limited nonstatutory grounds, 

the Supreme Court clarified that the FAA provides the exclusive bases for vacatur. Hall 

1

 Codified at 29 U.S.C. § 621, et seq. 

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ORDER – PAGE 3 

St. Assocs., L.L.C. v. Mattel, Inc., 532 U.S. 576, 584 (2008). Importantly, a court may not 

review the merits of the underlying proceeding to correct mere errors of law. Householder 

Grp. v. Caughran, 354 F. App’x 848, 851 (5th Cir. 2009) (unpub.); see also Kergosien, 

390 F.3d at 354 (noting that, even prior to Hall Street Associates, the Fifth Circuit did not 

recognize vacatur predicated on the arbitrator’s failure to “follow the law”). Absent a 

statutory basis to vacate the arbitral award, the FAA stipulates that the district court must 

confirm the award. 9 U.S.C. § 9. 

 In this case, Richards asserts only that the Arbitrator exceeded his contractual 

authority, see Pl.’s Mot. to Vacate 20 [2], which provides a basis for vacatur under 9 U.S.C. 

§ 10(a)(4).2

 See Kemper Corp. Servs., Inc. v. Comput. Sci. Corp., 946 F.3d 817, 822 (5th 

Cir. 2020) (quoting Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, 569 U.S. 564, 569 (2013)) 

(explaining that section 10(a)(4) has been interpreted narrowly). Hence, the agreement 

conferring the power to the arbitrator to bind the parties serves as the lodestar for the court’s 

analysis, and the party seeking vacatur “bears a heavy burden” to establish its entitlement 

to that remedy. Oxford, 569 U.S. at 569. 

2 Although Richards lays out facts related to IBM’s alleged misrepresentations and 

withholding of crucial evidence, his petition and motion advance only the Arbitrator’s 

refusal to consider the motion for relief from judgment as a basis for vacatur. Compare 

Pl.’s Mot. to Vacate 9–18 with id. at 20. 

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 Furthermore, the FAA provides strict procedural requirements for pursuing vacatur 

in a federal district court. “Notice of a motion to vacate, modify, or correct an award must 

be served upon the adverse party or his attorney within three months after the award is filed 

or delivered.” 9 U.S.C. § 12. Parties who fail to comply with the notice provision forfeit 

their right to seek judicial review of the arbitration award. Haljohn-San Antonio, Inc. v. 

Ramos, 2020 WL 7495098, at *3 (N.D. Tex. 2020) (citing Moore v. Valero Ardmore 

Refinery, 2015 WL 129985, at *1 (N.D. Tex. 2015)). 

III. THE COURT DECLINES TO VACATE THE AWARD

 Richards argues that the Arbitrator’s failure to consider the motion for relief from 

judgment constitutes grounds for vacating the arbitration award. Pl.’s Pet. To Vacate ¶ 27. 

He notes that the parties’ arbitration agreement requires the Arbitrator to hear and decide 

motions permitted by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure at any point in the proceeding. 

Pl.’s Mot. to Vacate 21. Richards argues that by refusing to consider the motion, the 

Arbitrator exceeded his authority under the arbitration agreement. Id. Richards asks the 

Court to vacate the award and declare that the arbitration agreement requires arbitrators to 

consider motions under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60. 

A. Richards Did Not Serve Notice of the Motion Within the Statutory Period

 The parties do not dispute the following dates. The Arbitrator issued a final award 

granting summary judgment on January 19, 2021. The Arbitrator denied Richards’ motion 

for reconsideration on March 4, 2021. Richards filed the motion for relief from judgment 

on November 5, 2021, and the Arbitrator denied the motion on December 15, 2021. 

Richards filed this lawsuit on April 4, 2022. 

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ORDER – PAGE 5 

 Richards did not provide notice to IBM within the statutory period. The FAA 

requires notice of the motion to vacate within three months of the award. 9 U.S.C. § 12. 

IBM was served in April 2022, well over a year after the Arbitrator issued the award.3

 

Richards’ failure to serve IBM within the three-month period forfeited his right to seek 

judicial review of the award. Haljohn-San Antonio, 2020 WL 7495098, at *3. Therefore, 

the Court denies Richards’ motion to vacate. 

B. Declaratory Relief is Not a Viable Remedy

 Richards has requested two separate forms of relief in his filings: vacatur and 

declaratory relief. Pl.’s Pet. To Vacate ¶ 27 (requesting that the Court “vacate the 

arbitrator’s award” because the Arbitrator did not review or consider the motion for relief 

from judgment); Pl.’s Reply in Supp. of Pet. To Vacate 9 [29] (arguing that the FAA’s 

vacatur limitation period is not operative because Richards has asked the Court only to 

declare that the agreement compels the Arbitrator to consider the Rule 60 motion). The 

Court cannot provide a remedy other than vacatur for three reasons. 

 First, granting Richards’ motion would effectively vacate the arbitration award. At 

this point in the proceedings, the Arbitrator has issued a final award and relinquished 

jurisdiction. An order from this Court reinstating the Arbitrator’s jurisdiction and ordering 

him to consider the motion would rescind the finality of the award, effectively resulting in 

vacatur. Furthermore, Richards’ own filings repeatedly request vacatur as the remedy 

3

 Even if the three-month period started on the day the Arbitrator denied the motion for 

relief from judgment, December 15, 2021, Richards did not serve IBM before March 15, 

2022. 

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sought, demonstrating the fact that the Court cannot issue relief without setting aside the 

final award. Pl.’s Pet. To Vacate ¶ 27; Pl’s Mot. to Vacate 23. Congress has set out a 

comprehensive scheme by which parties may challenge arbitration awards in federal court; 

this Court cannot vacate the award outside the limited scope of section 10 of the FAA. 

 Second, apart from the FAA’s vacatur provisions, the Court lacks statutory authority 

to compel the Arbitrator to reconsider the motion. Richards’ alternative remedy asks the 

Court to declare that the arbitration agreement permits arbitrators to consider motions 

under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 60. But no statutory provision outside of the FAA 

allows the Court to vacate the award or enjoin certain procedures after the arbitration has 

concluded. See Hall Street Associates, 532 U.S. at 584. Therefore, the Court cannot take 

any further steps to compel the Arbitrator to consider the motion. To challenge the 

Arbitrator’s decision successfully, Richards must use the FAA’s vacatur provisions. 

 Lastly, declaring the Arbitrator’s error without vacating the final judgment would 

not redress Richards’ injury. As set out above, there is no statutory or nonstatutory means 

outside of FAA vacatur by which this Court could compel the Arbitrator to consider the 

motion. The only alternative for this Court to provide relief is to persuade the Arbitrator 

that he retains jurisdiction and may reconsider Richards’ motion. But “[r]edressability 

requires that the court be able to afford relief through the exercise of its power, not through 

the persuasive or even awe-inspiring effect of the opinion explaining the exercise of its 

power.” Franklin v. Massachusetts, 505 U.S. 788, 825 (1992) (Scalia, J., concurring in 

part and in the judgment) (emphasis in original). The Court cannot issue an advisory 

opinion explaining that the Arbitrator should, but does not have to, interpret the arbitration 

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ORDER – PAGE 7 

agreement to allow Rule 60 motions. Accordingly, the Court denies the request for 

declaratory relief. 

CONCLUSION

 For the foregoing reasons, the Court holds that Richards served notice of the motion 

to vacate after the expiration of the statutory period. Accordingly, the Court denies 

Richards’ motion to vacate. 

 Signed December 12, 2022. 

 ___________________________ 

 David C. Godbey 

 Chief United States District Judge 

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