Court Opinion

ID: 9673517
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-24 04:13:52.959861+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:16:22.490058
License: Public Domain

VERGERONT, J.
(concurring). I write separately on the issue of the application of issue preclusion to this case. I agree with the majority opinion that an arbitrator's decision on a claim or an issue may have a preclusive effect on the ability of a second arbitrator to decide that claim or issue in limited circumstances. I also agree that it is appropriate to apply issue preclusion in this case. I write separately because the opinion does not mention, in analyzing the policy factors weighing for and against the application of preclusion doctrines, the general rule that there is a broad presumption of arbitrability in determining whether a grievance is subject to arbitration under a contract. See City of Milwaukee v. Milwaukee Police Assoc., 97 Wis. 2d 15, 20, 292 N.W.2d 841, 844 (1980). Doubts about whether an arbitration clause covers a particular grievance are to be resolved in favor of coverage. United Steelworkers of America v. Warrior and Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U.S. 574, 583 (1960). Courts in at least two other jurisdictions have concluded that this *288general policy favoring arbitrability is a factor to be weighed in deciding whether a preclusion doctrine should bar submission of a grievance to arbitration. See International Chemical Workers Union Local No. 189 v. Purex Corp., 427 F. Supp. 338, 339 (D. Neb. 1977); Todd Shipyards Corp. v. Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, Local 15, AFL-CIO, 242 F. Supp. 606, 610-11 (D.N.J. 1965). Preclusion doctrines may work against the general rule favoring arbitrability. Therefore, I would conclude that the question whether one arbitrator's decision can have a preclusive effect in a second arbitration must be carefully considered on a case-by-case basis in a manner that does not thwart the general rule favoring arbitrability.
I am authorized to state that Presiding Judge Charles P. Dykman joins this concurring opinion.