Opinion ID: 758402
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Evidence as to the Who decides issue in the

Text: Riley-Anchor Glass arbitration clause 34 In light of the difficult arguments that Anchor Glass must present to support its initial arbitrability argument, we have no hesitation in concluding that Anchor Glass does not have clear and unmistakable evidence that the parties intended to have an arbitrator, rather than a court, decide whether an arbitration agreement exists or what the scope of that agreement is. Thus, the validity and enforceability of the Riley-Anchor Glass arbitration agreement is for the courts to decide. As a result, we conclude that there was no error in the district court's decision to resolve the arbitrability issue itself rather than to refer it to an arbitrator. 35 First, although the arbitration clause in the Manufacturing Agreement is broadly written, referring to any and all disputes arising out of or relating to the contract, there is no hint in the text of the clause or elsewhere in the contract that the parties expressed a specific intent to submit to an arbitrator the question whether an agreement to arbitrate exists or remained in existence after the Settlement Agreement. Furthermore, Riley and Anchor Glass negotiated against background principles of Florida and Kansas law, 5 where the issue of arbitrability has been determined, as a matter of law, to be a question for the courts and not an arbitrator. For example, in Florida, in a case involving one party's claim that a subsequent oral contract had superseded an earlier written arbitration agreement, the court held that the question of [w]hether or not a dispute should be submitted to arbitration is a question for the court to determine from the contract of the parties.... [T]he trial court cannot leave it to the arbitrators themselves to determine which claims are subject to arbitration when it has not established which agreement applies. Thomas W. Ward & Assoc., Inc. v. Spinks, 574 So.2d 169, 169-70 (Fla.Ct.App.1990) (emphasis added & citation omitted). Similarly, in Kansas, the law is long-established that whenever a motion to compel arbitration comes on for hearing, the threshold determination to be made by the court is whether an agreement to arbitrate exists and whether this agreement includes arbitration of the specific point at issue. City of Wamego v. L.R. Foy Constr. Co., 9 Kan.App.2d 168, 675 P.2d 912, 915 (1984) (emphasis added). We find no clear and unmistakable evidence within the four corners of the Manufacturing Agreement that the parties intended to submit the question of whether an agreement to arbitrate exists to an arbitrator. 36 Second, the existence of the merger clause in the Settlement Agreement raises at least an ambiguity on the question of the intent of the parties to allow an arbitrator to decide the validity of the 1991 arbitration clause. The merger clause expressly states that the Settlement Agreement cancels, terminates and supersedes any prior agreement relating to the subject matter of the Manufacturing Agreement. Although we conclude below that this language does not terminate the arbitration clause in the Manufacturing Agreement in toto, see Part II infra, we do believe that this language raises legitimate questions as to the continuing existence and scope of the arbitration clause in the Manufacturing Agreement. Furthermore, the Settlement Agreement is noteworthy for its lack of an arbitration clause. Thus, because the Settlement Agreement creates an ambiguity on the question of arbitrability--an ambiguity that the Settlement Agreement does not expressly delegate to an arbitrator for resolution--we find that the question of whether an agreement to arbitrate continues to exist for Riley and Anchor Glass is a question for the courts. 37