Courts will reject an untimely demand to submit a matter to arbitration
Town of Orangetown v Rockland County Policemen's Benevolent Assn., 2013 NY Slip Op 02408, Appellate Division, Second Department
In this CPLR Article 75 the Town of Orangetown petitioned Supreme Court seeking an order to permanently stay an arbitration demanded by the Rockland County Policemen’s Benevolent Association and the Town of Orangetown Policemen's Benevolent Association.
Both Associations, on the other hand, asked the court to issue an order to “compel arbitration.”
Although the Town contended that demand for arbitration was untimely, Supreme Court granted the Associations’ petition. The Appellate Division, however, revered the lower court’s ruling, vacated the order, and granting the Town’s petition to permanently stay the arbitration.
The Appellate Division explained that under New York statutory and case law, a court may address three threshold questions on a motion to compel or to stay arbitration:
1. Whether the parties made a valid agreement to arbitrate;
2. If so, whether the agreement has been complied with; and
3. Whether the claim sought to be arbitrated would be time-barred if it were asserted in State court.
Finding that the grievance the Association sought to be arbitrated was time-barred under the applicable 18-month statute of limitations, the Appellate Division held that Supreme Court erred in denying the Town’s petition to permanently stay arbitration and granting the Association’s cross motion to compel arbitration.
The decision is posted on the Internet at: