Opinion ID: 2590642
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Viability Of Rainbow Chevrolet After Adoption Of HRS Chapter 658A

Text: Szymanski argues that Rainbow Chevrolet is controlling precedent and that, if the circuit court finds that there is any issue referable to arbitration in a suit, the circuit court must stay trial of all the issues in the suit until the arbitration has been held in accordance with the terms of the agreement. We disagree. In Rainbow Chevrolet, the ICA correctly concluded that, pursuant to the clear and unambiguous language of then-existing HRS § 658-5, the trial court was required to stay proceedings pending arbitration if there was any issue referable to arbitration under a written agreement. Rainbow Chevrolet, 78 Hawai'i at 113, 890 P.2d at 700. The Rainbow Chevrolet holding was thus based on the plain language of HRS § 658-5, which was repealed upon the adoption of HRS chapter 658A. There is no statute comparable to HRS § 658-5 in HRS chapter 658A; indeed, HRS § 658A-7 provides that if a claim subject to the arbitration is severable, the court may limit the stay to that claim. Rainbow Chevrolet is thus no longer applicable to arbitration agreements to which HRS chapter 658A is applicable.