2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 52 - Civil Actions › Chapter 909 - Arbitration Proceedings › Section 52-418. - Vacating award.

(a) Upon the application of any party to an arbitration, the superior court for the judicial district in which one of the parties resides or, in a controversy concerning land, for the judicial district in which the land is situated or, when the court is not in session, any judge thereof, shall make an order vacating the award if it finds any of the following defects: (1) If the award has been procured by corruption, fraud or undue means; (2) if there has been evident partiality or corruption on the part of any arbitrator; (3) if the arbitrators have been 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 action by which the rights of any party have been prejudiced; or (4) if the arbitrators have exceeded their powers or so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final and definite award upon the subject matter submitted was not made.
(b) If an award is vacated and the time within which the award is required to be rendered has not expired, the court or judge may direct a rehearing by the arbitrators. Notwithstanding the time within which the award is required to be rendered, if an award issued pursuant to a grievance taken under a collective bargaining agreement is vacated the court or judge shall direct a rehearing unless either party affirmatively pleads and the court or judge determines that there is no issue in dispute.
(c) Any party filing an application pursuant to subsection (a) of this section concerning an arbitration award issued by the State Board of Mediation and Arbitration shall notify said board and the Attorney General, in writing, of such filing within five days of the date of filing.
(1949 Rev., S. 8161; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127; P.A. 82-160, S. 157; P.A. 87-19; P.A. 97-134.)
History: P.A. 78-280 substituted “judicial district” for “county”; P.A. 82-160 rephrased the section, inserted Subsec. indicators and replaced alphabetic Subdiv. indicators with numeric indicators; P.A. 87-19 added Subsec. (c) to provide that the state board of mediation and arbitration and the attorney general must be notified by any party filing to vacate an award issued by the board; P.A. 97-134 amended Subsec. (b) to permit a rehearing of an award unless a party affirmatively pleads and judge determines no issue is disputed.
Plaintiffs were not in fact parties to the arbitration, nor were they parties through representation by the union and they had no standing to apply to have award vacated. 135 C. 10. Cited. 138 C. 65; 139 C. 514. Application to vacate award should be granted where arbitrator exceeded his powers. Id., 591. Powers of an arbitrator are limited by the agreement of submission. 140 C. 32. Cited. Id., 446. “Undue means” discussed. 142 C. 190. An award may be vacated if the arbitrators exceeded their powers. 143 C. 399. When there is no adequate remedy at law, the party claiming injury through partiality and fraud can invoke the equitable powers of a court for an appropriate remedy. 144 C. 303. Applicable to awards of Board of Mediation and Arbitration, as well as to arbitration awards generally. 145 C. 53. Power of arbitrators outlined by terms of submission. Id., 285. If dispute arose while agreement was operative, arbitrators had jurisdiction. 146 C. 17. Member of union not a party to the arbitration and therefore not entitled to apply to have the award vacated. 147 C. 139. Burden rests on party attacking the award to produce evidence sufficient to invalidate or avoid it. Id., 524. Cited. 150 C. 547. Award properly vacated where it was made more than 60 days from date arbitrators were empowered to act. 157 C. 362. Cited. 160 C. 411; 162 C. 422; 163 C. 309; Id., 327. In deciding whether arbitrators have exceeded their powers under Subsec. (d), the court need only examine the submission and the award to determine whether the award conforms to the submission. 164 C. 472. The court is bound by the arbitrator's determination unless that determination falls within the proscriptions of section or procedurally violates the parties' agreement. 167 C. 315. Board of education's agreement to submit a question to arbitrator waived any objection to the question as not being arbitrable or within matters enumerated for arbitration; arbitration is a creature of contract between the parties and its autonomy requires a minimum of judicial intrusion. 168 C. 54. Cited. 171 C. 420; Id., 493. In deciding whether to vacate arbitration award on ground that arbitrators “exceeded their powers” under section, court should examine submission and award to determine if latter conforms to former. 173 C. 287. Cited. 174 C. 583; 175 C. 24; 176 C. 401; 178 C. 557; 179 C. 184; Id., 678; 183 C. 102; 184 C. 578, 580. Where trial court vacates an arbitration award before the time “within which the award is required to be rendered” has expired, it is, under statute, empowered to order a rehearing of the matter by the arbitrators. 187 C. 228. Cited. 189 C. 16; Id., 560. A finding of arbitrability is not an award until it becomes part of an award on the merits. 190 C. 323. Cited. Id., 707; 191 C. 316; Id., 336; 195 C. 266; 196 C. 623; 197 C. 26; 199 C. 618; 200 C. 345; Id., 376; 201 C. 50; Id., 577; 203 C. 133. De novo judicial review of compulsory arbitration proceedings discussed. 205 C. 178. Cited. 206 C. 113; Id., 465; Id., 643; 208 C. 187; Id., 352; Id., 411; 209 C. 280; 210 C. 333; 211 C. 7; Id., 541; Id., 640; 212 C. 83; 213 C. 525; Id., 532; 214 C. 209; 215 C. 157; Id., 399; 216 C. 612; 217 C. 110; 218 C. 646; Id., 681; 221 C. 206; 222 C. 480; 223 C. 1; Id., 761; 224 C. 766; 225 C. 223; 226 C. 475; 229 C. 359. Judgment of Appellate Court in 31 CA 75 reversed. Id., 465. Cited. 234 C. 123; Id., 217; Id., 817; 237 C. 114; 238 C. 293; 239 C. 32; Id., 537; 272 C. 617.
Unless collective bargaining agreement provides for personal right to seek arbitration, an employee subject to the agreement is not a “party to the arbitration”; standing is a matter of subject matter jurisdiction which cannot be conferred by the parties. 1 CA 154. Cited. Id., 207; Id., 219; 3 CA 250; Id., 697; 4 CA 21; Id., 577; 5 CA 61; Id., 636; 6 CA 11; Id., 438; 7 CA 286; 9 CA 396; 10 CA 292; Id., 611; 12 CA 642; 13 CA 461; 14 CA 153; Id., 257; 16 CA 486; 17 CA 280; 20 CA 67; 23 CA 24; Id., 727; 26 CA 351; 27 CA 386; Id., 635; 28 CA 337; 29 CA 484; 30 CA 157; 31 CA 73; judgment reversed; see 229 C. 465; 32 CA 289; 33 CA 1; Id., 626; Id., 737; 34 CA 27; 35 CA 338; Id., 775; Id., 804; 36 CA 29; 37 CA 1; Id., 708; 39 CA 122; 43 CA 800; 44 CA 415; Id., 506; 45 CA 237; 46 CA 520. Broad and unrestricted arbitration clauses in purchase and sale agreements that provided for arbitration “concerning any matter provided for herein or arising hereunder” gave trial court authority to determine amounts owed on each note and to direct that they be paid by defendants. 62 CA 83. Trial court's determination was proper and consistent with applicable collective bargaining agreement. 75 CA 198. Enforcement of arbitration award reducing grievant's dismissal to a 1-year suspension would violate a clearly established public policy against workplace sexual harassment. 125 CA 408. Dismissal of the arbitration is not a final resolution of the underlying claim on the merits and does not conclusively resolve the rights and obligations of the parties and thus, court lacked subject matter jurisdiction over the plaintiff's application to vacate. 210 CA 788.
When applications are commenced. 15 CS 118. Proceedings of agreement to arbitrate not affected by limitations between union and employer. Id., 391. Cited. Id., 397; 16 CS 137. Meaning of “an application to the court”. Id., 505. Cited. 17 CS 14; 18 CS 231. To vacate an award, court must find arbitrator's interpretation clearly untenable. 19 CS 71; Id., 347. Cited. 20 CS 91. The charter of an arbitrator is the submission but the provisions of the contract in question must be read as a whole. Id., 451. A labor arbitration award which contravenes public policy by its construction of a labor agreement is void. 22 CS 475. Cited. 29 CS 25; 32 CS 85. Since the parties by the agreement of submission define the scope of the arbitration, an award will not be vacated if it conforms to the submission. 36 CS 223. Cited. 38 CS 80; 40 CS 145; Id., 365; 42 CS 336; 43 CS 470; 44 CS 312; Id., 482; 45 CS 130. Absent violation of statute, courts should not interfere in arbitral decision. Id., 144.
Former Subdiv. (d):
Cited. 141 C. 514; Id., 606. The question submitted to arbitration was whether the collective bargaining agreement was violated by the company's “present operating practice”; the award, by defining a course of conduct which could be followed in the future, went beyond the submission and could not be upheld. 149 C. 687. In deciding whether arbitrators have “exceeded their powers”, as that phrase is used in Subsec., courts need only examine the submission and award to determine whether award conforms to submission. 171 C. 420. Cited. 176 C. 401; 181 C. 211; Id., 449; 183 C. 579.
Inherently inconsistent award was vacated as arbitrator acted in violation, of Subsec., imperfectly executing his powers. 27 CS 278. Since the law of the forum determines the remedy, an Iowa law prohibiting the stacking of uninsured motorist coverage was inapplicable and the arbitrator's award was confirmed. 36 CS 232. Cited. 38 CS 80.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 190 C. 14; 209 C. 579; 212 C. 368; Id., 652; 214 C. 734; 218 C. 51; 231 C. 563; 234 C. 408. Subdiv. (3): Misconduct under section may be waived; judgment of Appellate Court in 38 CA 709 reversed. 237 C. 378. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrators did not exceed their powers when they failed to give collateral estoppel effect to a prior arbitration award. 248 C. 108. Challenge to voluntary arbitration award rendered pursuant to an unrestricted submission which raises a legitimate and colorable claim of violation of public policy requires de novo judicial review. 257 C. 80. Trial court did not err in confirming arbitration award; in matters where an arbitration submission is unrestricted, arbitrator's award shall not be vacated unless award rules on constitutionality of a statute, violates clear public policy or contravenes one or more statutory prescriptions of section. 273 C. 86. Trial court correctly determined that plaintiff had not adduced sufficient evidence of partiality or bias by the arbitrator to justify vacatur of award under Subdiv. (2). 276 C. 599. Arbitrator's failure to consider trial testimony of defendant's employee concerning employee's bribes to plaintiff's former mayor in exchange for awards of construction contracts constituted misconduct, because evidence was not cumulative and provided additional information. 278 C. 466. Subdiv. (4): On application to vacate award on the ground that it violates public policy, applicant did not meet significant burden to demonstrate that arbitrator exercised power in manifest disregard of the law where applicant asserted that public policy of preventing sexual harassment and workplace violence overrode employee's contractual right to transfer. 287 C. 258. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrator did not exceed his authority by declining to award attorney's fees under the arbitration agreement since question is whether arbitrator had authority to reach the issue, not whether the issue was correctly decided. 293 C. 748. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrator improperly relied on employee's admission into accelerated rehabilitation program as evidence of cause for employee's discharge from employment despite clear and significant public policy that acceptance of accelerated rehabilitation is not evidence of guilt, that it cannot be used as evidence of guilt, and that it has no probative value on the issues of guilt or innocence of the charged offenses. 298 C. 824. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrator's interpretation of just cause provision of a collective bargaining agreement as barring the grievant's termination of employment for sexual harassment of a coworker violated the clear, well-defined and dominant public policy against sexual harassment in this state and the award was correctly vacated. 309 C. 519. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrators did not exceed their powers as arbitration award did not violate public policy against intentional police officer dishonesty because officer's dishonesty was not egregious enough to warrant termination of employment. 315 C. 49. Subdiv. (3): Trial court improperly vacated arbitration award of appraisal panel because the court's conclusion that the appraisal panel's decision had prejudiced the substantial monetary rights of the plaintiff was the basis for the court's disagreement with appraisal panel's ultimate conclusions on the issue of valuation, and not a determination that the appraisal panel had engaged in misconduct impacting the fairness of the arbitration procedures. 326 C. 638.
Cited. 3 CA 286; 9 CA 260; 16 CA 711; 23 CA 107; Id., 107; 24 CA 254; 33 CA 669; 35 CA 638. Subdiv. (3): Once a finding of misconduct made, court required to vacate award. 38 CA 709. Cited. 44 CA 764; 45 CA 432. Subdiv. (4) is not sole source of court's power of review of arbitration. 48 CA 849. Award not definite under Subdiv. (4) where remedy remained open to negotiation and award left a specific remedy to the predilection of a party. 49 CA 33. Plaintiff has burden of establishing the award is invalid because it falls within the proscriptions of section. Id., 443. Review of unrestricted submissions discussed; arbitrators' decision conforms to submission. 53 CA 702. In the event part of arbitration award is within the scope of the submission and part of award is not, court may vacate any portion of the award that does not disturb the merits of the arbitration. 56 CA 786. When agreement is silent, arbitration board may establish standard of proof without violating requirements of notice and full and fair hearing. 57 CA 490. Subdiv. (4): Where submission was voluntary and unrestricted, court did not err in failing to vacate entire award since award conformed to submission, but court did err in failing to confirm entire award when it improperly substituted its findings of fact and conclusions of law for that of the arbitrator. 59 CA 224. Arbitration award vacated where award was open to negotiation; the fact that a failed negotiation might return to a different arbitrator did mitigate the indefiniteness, or lack of finality, of the award. 72 CA 274. It is axiomatic that any challenge to an award under Subdiv. (4), on ground that arbitrator exceeded his powers, is limited to comparison of award with submission. 80 CA 1. Party challenging arbitration award on the ground that arbitrator refused to receive material evidence must prove that, by virtue of an evidentiary ruling, he was in fact deprived of full and fair hearing before the arbitration panel. 81 CA 532. Subdiv. (4): With unrestricted submission, court's review of the award is limited to determination of whether it conforms to the submission. Id., 726. Award that is legally incorrect does not fall within exception provided in Subdiv. (4) and should not be set aside. 84 CA 826. Subdiv. (4): Court did not abuse its discretion in finding that arbitration award conformed to the submission and declining to examine arbitrator's reasoning in arriving at the award because, when submission is unrestricted, court is confined to examination of the submission and award to determine whether the award conformed to the submission. 86 CA 686. Subdiv. (4): Trial court properly denied plaintiff union's application to vacate arbitration award, plaintiff having failed to establish its claim that arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law in concluding that article two of collective bargaining agreement pertaining to management rights, rather than article nine pertaining to layoffs, applied to facts of case; given arbitrator's finding that grievant was unable to perform duties of a security guard, it was not unreasonable for arbitrator to conclude that article nine did not address layoffs of individuals for being unable to perform duties of their position. 99 CA 54. Arbitration panel did not exceed and imperfectly execute its powers because its award did not conform to the parties' submission; trial court did not improperly refuse to vacate award. 102 CA 61. An arbitrator, in rendering arbitration award, may take into account grievant's acceptance of accelerated rehabilitation; there is no clear legal principle preventing arbitrator from drawing adverse inferences from fact that grievant has utilized accelerated rehabilitation and drawing of such inferences is not violation of public policy. 107 CA 321; judgment reversed, see 298 C. 824. Plaintiff did not meet burden of demonstrating arbitration award failed to conform to submission; ex parte communication between one of the arbitrators and one of the parties did not result in any harm and did not mandate vacatur of the arbitration award. 121 CA 31. Arbitrator did not exceed his authority under Subdiv. (4) because the submission asked arbitrator to determine whether employee had been terminated for just cause in accordance with the collective bargaining agreement and, if not, what the remedy should be, the plaintiff conceded that the award conformed to the submission and the record demonstrated that the arbitrator applied and interpreted the agreement. 122 CA 617. Subdiv. (4): Submission to arbitration panel was unrestricted, and panel was not limited in the remedy it could fashion once it determined that employee was terminated from employment without just cause, and panel's failure to reinstate employee cannot be construed as a failure to conform with the submission. 125 CA 225. Subdiv. (4): At most, the panel misapplied or misconstrued statutory requirements, neither of which is sufficient to support a manifest disregard of the law claim. 130 CA 556. Subdiv. (4): Under Subdiv., a court will compare the award to the submission to determine whether the arbitrators have exceeded their powers. 132 CA 326. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrator's decision to base an award on certain legal theories amounts to only an “arguable difference” regarding the meaning or applicability of the law, not the “manifest disregard” of the law necessary for the court to overturn the arbitrator's decision. 146 CA 60. Subdiv. (1): Opposing counsel's failure to disclose certain facts during an ex parte hearing in violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct does not amount to “corruption, fraud or undue means” as contemplated by Subdiv. Id., 768. Burden of proving evident partiality rests with party making claim and requires more than a showing of an appearance of bias, and will be found where a reasonable person would have to conclude that an arbitrator was partial to one party to the arbitration; failure of panel to consider evidence of past disciplinary actions against defendant does not provide adequate basis to vacate decision where plaintiff did not demonstrate that the panel engaged in misconduct. 155 CA 246. Subdiv. (4): Arbitrator did not run afoul of Subdiv. as defendant failed to prove that Garrity test, 223 C. 1, was satisfied because there was no obvious error and record did not show that the arbitrator deliberately ignored the law. Id., 264. Subdiv. (4): Arbitration agreement did not reference the construction industry rules of the American Arbitration Association or any other set of rules, thus arbitrator did not exceed her authority when she did not apply those rules when arbitrating the dispute. 194 CA 519.
Subdiv. (4): Arbitration award that upheld the disciplining of a police officer for his insistence on being truthful contravenes public policy and therefore exceeds the powers of the arbitrator and is vacated as void and unenforceable. 40 CS 145. Cited. 41 CS 17; 43 CS 32; 45 CS 130. Labor union that sought to challenge an arbitration award failed to meet burden of demonstrating that the arbitration panel's award violated section. 47 CS 559. On application to vacate an award on the ground that it violates public policy, court first addresses whether an explicit public policy has been identified in the application and then whether arbitrators' award violated this clear public policy. 48 CS 38. Subdiv. (3): Application to vacate award denied where defendant failed to demonstrate that arbitrators denied request for a postponement, arbitrators misled defendant into believing its request for a postponement had been denied, or arbitrators were presented with sufficient cause for defendant to obtain a postponement. 52 CS 295.
Subsec. (b):
Cited. 218 C. 51. Although it is within discretion of trial court to decide whether to submit the issues to the initial arbitrator, the court may also refer the matter to a new arbitrator. 249 C. 474. Trial court had authority to remand case to arbitration panel to clarify its decision and complete its task without vacating award. 271 C. 474.
In 1997 amendment, legislature chose to make rehearing mandatory for arbitral awards pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement, irrespective of time within which award was required to have been rendered; legislature did not manifest intent to require court to remand award for new hearing by new arbitrator; text of statute does not require de novo hearing on remand. 66 CA 202.