Opinion ID: 2033252
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Failure to Review the Arbitrator's Decision Under Iowa Code Section 679A.12.

Text: O'Malley's fallback position is that the district court should have reviewed the arbitrator's decision under Iowa Code section 679A.12. As mentioned, the district court employed a limited review, choosing to ignore Iowa Code section 679A.12. We agree with O'Malley that the review provisions of section 679A.12 apply to the arbitrator's decision. However, for reasons that follow, we think the district court did not err in denying O'Malley's application challenging the arbitrator's decision. O'Malley asserted in the district court that he was entitled to a sufficiency-of-the-evidence review under Iowa Code section 679A.12(1)(f). Because this was the only ground of review under section 679A.12 alleged before the district court, O'Malley is limited to that ground on appeal. See Peters v. Burlington N. R.R., 492 N.W.2d 399, 401 (Iowa 1992) (holding that issues must be raised in and decided by the district court before they may be raised and decided on appeal). Iowa Code section 679A.12 provides in pertinent part: 1. Upon application of a party, the district court shall vacate an award if any of the following apply: .... f. Substantial evidence on the record as a whole does not support the award. The court shall not vacate an award on this ground if a party urging the vacation has not caused the arbitration proceedings to be reported, if the parties have agreed that a vacation shall not be made on this ground, or if the arbitration has been conducted under the auspices of the American arbitration association. (Emphasis added.) Therefore, according to the emphasized language, the substantial-evidence review does not apply if the proceedings before the arbitrator were not reported or the parties have agreed that this type of review would not apply to the arbitrator's decision. Here, as the IVH points out, the record before the district court does not show that the arbitration proceedings were reported. Additionally, the Agreement clearly provides that the decision of the arbitrator shall be binding on both parties. This provision of the Agreement clearly implies that the parties did not intend that the arbitrator's decision would be subject to a substantial-evidence challenge or review. Therefore, the district court was correct in refusing to vacate the arbitrator's decision, although it did so for a different reason. We affirm the decision of the district court on this issue. See Rouse v. Union Township, 530 N.W.2d 714, 717 (Iowa 1995) (noting this court is obligated to affirm an appeal in which any proper basis appears in the record for a district court's ruling even though it is not one upon which the court based its decision).