Court Opinion

ID: 4173480
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2017-06-01 13:14:13.515786+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T14:55:11.607840
License: Public Domain

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This memorandum is uncorrected and subject to revision before
publication in the New York Reports.
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No. 64
Town of Amherst,
            Appellant,
        v.
Granite State Insurance Company,
Inc.,
            Respondent.

         John G. Schmidt, Jr., for appellant.
         Marc S. Voses, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM:
         The order of the Appellate Division, insofar as
appealed from, should be affirmed, with costs.   Under the facts
of this case, including the terms of the parties' insurance
policy, which incorporated the rules of the American Arbitration
Association, the issue of whether the later agreement between the

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                             - 2 -                           No. 64

parties affected the arbitrability of the dispute should be
resolved by the arbitrator (see Matter of Cassone, 63 NY2d 756
[1984]; Matter of Schlaifer v Sedlow, 51 NY2d 181 [1980]).

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Town of Amherst v Granite State Insurance Co., Inc.
No. 64

STEIN, J.(dissenting):
             Unlike the majority, I interpret the arbitration clause
at issue here as narrow, rather than broad.         In my view, under
the facts of this case and that interpretation of the policy, the
determination of the arbitrability of the parties' dispute should
be made by the courts (see generally Silverstein Props. v Paine,
Webber, Jackson & Curtis, 65 NY2d 785, 787-788 [1985]).
Accordingly, I dissent and would reverse the order of the
Appellate Division.
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Order, insofar as appealed from, affirmed, with costs, in a
memorandum. Chief Judge DiFiore and Judges Rivera, Garcia and
Wilson concur. Judge Stein dissents in an opinion. Judge Fahey
took no part.

Decided June 1, 2017

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