Opinion ID: 389950
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: A Stay is Appropriate

Text: 35 There remains the question whether the tortious interference claim against the remaining parties ought also to be stayed pending arbitration. We hold that it should be. The parties to the contract have chosen a contractual method arbitration for the determination of disputes over its interpretation. Third parties, charged with interfering with the contract by inducing a violation should be entitled to have it construed by the expert tribunal selected for that purpose by the plaintiff, before having to respond to a charge of tortious conduct. 36 We recognize that if the Employer loses before the arbitrator on his breach of contract claim and the award becomes final by enforcement in the district court, the Employer may be collaterally estopped from proceeding against the third parties. Parklane Hosiery Co. v. Shore, 439 U.S. 322, 333-37, 99 S.Ct. 645, 652-655, 58 L.Ed.2d 552 (1979); Consolidated Express, Inc. v. New York Shipping Ass'n, 602 F.2d 494 (3d Cir. 1979), vacated and remanded, 448 U.S. 902, 100 S.Ct. 3040, 65 L.Ed.2d 1131 (1980). That is one of the consequences of having chosen a contractual remedy for filling in the gaps in party expectations and undertakings. The Employer cannot be heard to complain that third parties should receive the benefit of the chosen method of contract interpretation before answering to a charge that they induced a breach which the arbitrator may find did not even occur. On the other hand a victory before the arbitrators will not necessarily foreclose relitigation by the third parties in the district court. Thus on remand the entire case should be stayed pending arbitration.