Opinion ID: 75971
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: riccard ii

Text: 7 After filing a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in April 1996 and being issued a right to sue letter by the Commission in September 1997, Riccard filed his second lawsuit against Prudential, in November 1997, this time claiming age and disability discrimination and retaliation in violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Florida Civil Rights Act. 2 On Prudential's motion, the district court compelled the case to arbitration, as it had done in Riccard I, on the basis of the NASD agreement Riccard had signed while employed by Prudential. 8 Riccard contended (and still contends) that Prudential's non-membership in the NASD at the time his lawsuit was filed, though it was a member at the time of the alleged events giving rise to the claims and at the time Riccard filed the EEOC charge, took the case out from under the arbitration agreement. The district court, however, determined that Prudential was an intended third party beneficiary of the arbitration agreement with standing to enforce the agreement naming as Riccard's member firm Prudential's subsidiary Pruco, which was an NASD member during the entire period — including the time the lawsuit was filed. 9 Riccard brought to this Court an interlocutory appeal of the district court's order compelling arbitration. We dismissed the appeal after the parties jointly stipulated to a dismissal with prejudice because the appeal had been taken prematurely. 10 The NASD arbitration panel which heard Riccard's second case dismissed all of his claims with prejudice after holding approximately fifty evidentiary sessions in which twenty-two witnesses testified. The district court subsequently confirmed the arbitration panel decision in favor of Prudential and denied Riccard's motion to vacate the decision. Riccard has now timely appealed the district court's earlier order compelling arbitration and its order confirming the arbitration award.