Opinion ID: 2149843
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Path to the Courthouse

Text: PSI wrote to AMAX on July 30, 1990, claiming that it had incurred a gross inequity, and requested renegotiation pursuant to section 17(i). PSI raised other issues as well, and, invoking section 28, suggested submitting their differences to arbitration. AMAX balked at the request for renegotiation, focusing on the language in section 17(i) providing for renegotiation [w]henever an agreement is reached between the Parties hereto that a gross inequity has occurred... . Id. (emphasis added). It also disclaimed any authority for arbitrators concerning disagreements about the existence of a gross inequity. Faced with AMAX's refusal to renegotiate, PSI sought to resolve the question of arbitrability through arbitration. AMAX brought suit in Marion Superior Court to block arbitration of the gross inequities issue. After a change of venue, the Hancock Superior Court granted AMAX's Application for Stay of Arbitration Proceedings and denied PSI's Application for Order Compelling Arbitration. The Court of Appeals reversed, finding ambiguity in the language of the gross inequities clause, which made that clause susceptible to interpretation in accordance with the terms of the general arbitration clause. PSI Energy, Inc. v. Amax Coal Company (1993), Ind. App., 621 N.E.2d 1157. We agree with the Court of Appeals.