Opinion ID: 622202
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Arbitrator's writing was sufficient under the terms of the Severance Agreement.

Text: The Severance Agreement required the Arbitrator to issue with his/her award a written discussion sufficient to permit limited judicial review to enforce or vacate the arbitration award. Biller argues that the Arbitrator exceeded his power under state law by failing to provide a written statement, consistent with the terms of the Severance Agreement, sufficient to explain why, under California law, he denied Biller's affirmative defenses. Relying on Bosack, the district court found that FAA did not permit vacatur merely on the failure of an arbitrator to provide a written explanation of his/her award. In Bosack, we explained that [a]rbitrators are not required to set forth their reasoning supporting an award. An arbitrators' award may be made without explanation of their reasons and without a complete record of their proceedings. [But, i]f they choose not to do so, it is all but impossible to determine whether they acted with manifest disregard for the law. Id. (internal quotation marks and citations omitted). Thus Bosack forecloses Biller's contention that the Arbitrator's purported failure to provide a written decision to facilitate judicial review, even though required by the Severance Agreement, would alone support vacatur under the FAA. The district court concluded that in any case, in keeping with the terms of the Severance Agreement, the Arbitrator's written decision was in fact sufficient to provide for the limited review authorized by the FAA, namely whether the Arbitrator manifestly disregarded the law or made an irrational decision. We agree with the district court's conclusion. Biller's argument focuses on the writing's ability to facilitate a judicial merits review, but as stated above, the FAA does not authorize a judicial merits review of arbitration awards, and the writing submitted by the Arbitrator was sufficient to determine whether vacatur was warranted under the limited scope of judicial review authorized in the FAA.