Court Opinion

ID: 9769696
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-29 14:58:59.539263+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:31:06.984135
License: Public Domain

DRAUGHN, Justice,
dissenting.
I respectfully dissent from the majority’s decision to dissolve the injunction as to appellants Drury and Thomson McKinnon. Many federal courts (including the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York that handles a high volume of cases under the Federal Arbitration Act) have held that this Act does not prohibit the issuance of a temporary injunction pending arbitration. See, e.g., Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc. v. Bradley, 756 F.2d 1048 (4th Cir.1984); Sauer-Getriebe KG. v. White Hydraulics, Inc., 715 F.2d 348 (7th Cir. 1983), cert. denied, 464 U.S. 1070, 104 S.Ct. 976, 79 L.Ed.2d 214 (1984); Erving v. Virginia Squires Basketball Club, 468 F.2d 1064 (2d Cir.1972). I would adopt the reasoning in Bradley, 756 F.2d at 1054, to the effect that a temporary injunction preserving the status quo under circumstances such as .these may be highly necessary to prevent irreparable harm. I agree with the appellee’s assertion that arbitration may be futile if the status quo is not preserved pending the arbitrator’s decision. A temporary injunction is a necessary and appropriate remedy in this situation. David v. Bache Halsey Stuart Shields, Inc., 630 S.W.2d 754 (Tex.App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 1982, no writ).
Without a temporary injunction, the appellants stand to profit from actions that may well be determined during arbitration to have been wrongful. Further injury to the appellee could be prevented by our upholding the trial court’s ruling. In the meantime, arbitration could likely be accelerated to minimize the injunction’s adverse effects on the appellants. Therefore, I would overrule appellants’ first point of error and uphold the trial court’s imposition of a temporary injunction.