Court Opinion

ID: 9466635
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:21:26.359376+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:50.385989
License: Public Domain

HOLLOWAY, Circuit Judge,
concurring and dissenting:
While I agree with the majority opinion on the merits in holding that the arbitrator violated the essence of the agreement, I am unable to agree with its treatment of the statute of limitations issue. It is my conclusion that the Oklahoma statute of limitations should not be applied because it conflicts with federal labor policy strongly favoring arbitration.
It is true that where federal causes of action have been created without provision of a statute of limitations,* the silence of Congress has been interpreted to mean that it is federal policy to adopt the local law of limitation. Runyon v. McCrary, 427 U.S. 160, 180, 96 S.Ct. 2586, 2599, 49 L.Ed.2d 415; Zuniga v. AMFAC Foods, Inc., 580 F.2d 380, 382-83 (10th Cir.). In such cases the controlling period would ordinarily be the most appropriate one provided by state law. Johnson v. Railway Express Agency, 421 U.S. 454, 462, 95 S.Ct. 1716, 1721, 44 L.Ed.2d 295; International Union, U. A. W. v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., 383 U.S. 696, 704-05, 86 S.Ct. 1107, 1112-13, 16 L.Ed.2d 192, However, a state limitation should not be mechanically applied simply because a limitations period is absent from the federal statute, and “[sjtate limitations periods will not be borrowed if their application would be inconsistent with the underlying policies of the federal statute.” Occidental Life Ins. Co. v. EEOC, 432 U.S. 355, 367, 97 S.Ct. 2447, 2455, 53 L.Ed.2d 402; Marshall v. Intermountain Electric Co., Inc., 614 F.2d 260, 262 (10th Cir. 1980).
The national labor policy favoring arbitration as a means of resolving labor disputes is clear. See Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U.S. 235, 242-43, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 1587-88, 26 L.Ed.2d 199. Equally clear is the national policy favoring finality for decisions of arbitrators. See, e. g., Hines v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 424 U.S. 554, 562-63, 574, 96 S.Ct. 1048, 1055-56, 1061, 47 L.Ed.2d 231; Fizer v. Safeway Stores, Inc., 586 F.2d 182, 184 (10th Cir.); Barbarino v. Anchor Motor Freight, Inc., 421 F.Supp. 1003, 1006 (W.D.N.Y.). “The efficacy of that policy would be seriously undermined if arbitration decisions remained open to challenge for extended periods of time.” Wallace v. American Tel. and Tel. Co., Inc., 460 F.Supp. 755, 757 (E.D.N.Y.).
International Union, U. A. W. v. Hoosier Cardinal Corp., 383 U.S. 696, 86 S.Ct. 1107, 16 L.Ed.2d 192, relied on by the trial court and the majority opinion, was an action to enforce a collective bargaining agreement, but it did not involve arbitration and the strong policies favoring it. Application of the Oklahoma statutes with much longer limitations periods would undermine the policy for early resolution of disputes concerning arbitration awards. That policy is reflected and furthered by the three-month statute of limitations in the Federal Arbitration Act for motions to vacate, modify or correct an award. See 9 U.S.C. § 12 (1970). Although this action is brought under § 301 and not under the Federal Arbitration Act, the federal policy and the limitation period in § 12 are persuasive reasons for rejecting the inconsistent longer Oklahoma limitations period and for applying the three-month federal limitation. International Union, U. A. W. v. La Crosse Cooler Co., 406 F.Supp. 1213, 1215 (W.D.Wis.); cf. Gatlin v. Missouri-Pacific R. Co., 475 F.Supp. 1083, 1088-89 (E.D.Ark.). I would therefore ap*661ply the limitation from the close analogue in the Federal Arbitration Act, over the much longer general limitations of Oklahoma.
Although I thus agree with the appellants that the Oklahoma statute should not be applied, I cannot agree with them that a reversal is justified. Defendant Kerr McGee’s counterclaim alleged, among other things, that the award of the arbitrator totally disregards the terms of the agreement, that it is an attempt to substitute the arbitrator’s judgment for the agreement, and that the award is invalid. I R. 70. In addition to serving as grounds for an independent action to vacate the award, these averments should be construed as proper grounds of defense against the plaintiffs’ action to confirm and enforce the award. Viewed in this light, it has been held that the Federal Arbitration Act does not bar the assertion of such matters as a defense to an action to confirm an award, even beyond the three-month limitation of § 12 of the Federal Arbitration Act. Chauffeurs, Teamsters, Warehousemen and Helpers Local Union No. 364 v. Ruan Transport Corp., 473 F.Supp. 298, 302 (N.D.Ind.).
For these reasons I would modify the judgment so that it merely denies relief to the plaintiffs, and affirm.