Adams v. Greenpoint Credit, LLC

943 So. 2d 703, 2006 WL 3513562
Mississippi Supreme Court·Decided December 7, 2006·No. 2004-CT-02415-SCT·Published·Cited by 33 cases

Opinion

943 So.2d 703 (2006)

Eddie ADAMS and Beth Brown
v.
GREENPOINT CREDIT, LLC and Security Bank of Amory.

No. 2004-CT-02415-SCT.

Supreme Court of Mississippi.

December 7, 2006.

W. Howard Gunn, Aberdeen, attorney for appellants.

Michael Stephen MacInnis, Madison, C. Michael Malski, Tupelo, Jon Jerdone Mims, Jeffrey Dale Rawlings, Madison, attorneys for appellees.

EN BANC.

*704 ON WRIT OF CERTIORARI

RANDOLPH, Justice, for the Court.

¶ 1. This Court granted the petition for writ of certiorari filed by GreenPoint Credit, LLC ("GreenPoint") to address the issue of whether Beth Brown, like her father, Eddie B. Adams, should be compelled to submit to arbitration. The Mississippi Court of Appeals ruled that Adams was compelled to submit to arbitration, but that Brown's claims were not subject to arbitration.

FACTS

¶ 2. On August 5, 1998, Eddie B. Adams and his wife, Linda G. Adams, purchased a used mobile home. On the same date, they entered into a "Retail Installment Contract, Security Agreement, Waiver of Trial by Jury and Agreement to Arbitration or Reference or Trial by Judge Alone (Contract)" with creditor BankAmerica Housing Services.[1] The applicable provisions are:

a. Dispute Resolution. Any controversy or claim between or among you or me or our assignees arising out of or relating to this Contract or any agreements or instruments relating to or delivered in connection with this Contract, including any claim based on or arising from an alleged tort, shall, if requested by either you or me, be determined by arbitration, reference, or trial by judge as provided below. A controversy involving only a single claimant, or claimants who are related or asserting claims arising from a single transaction, shall be determined by arbitration as described below. Any other controversy shall be determined by judicial reference of the controversy to a referee appointed by the court or, if the court where the controversy is venued lacks the power to appoint a referee, by trial by a judge without a jury, as described below. YOU AND I AGREE AND UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE GIVING UP THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY, AND THERE SHALL BE NO JURY WHETHER THE CONTROVERSY OR CLAIM IS DECIDED BY ARBITRATION, BY JUDICIAL REFERENCE, OR BY TRIAL BY A JUDGE.
b. Arbitration. Since this Contract touches and concerns interstate commerce, an arbitration under this Contract shall be conducted in accordance with the United States Arbitration Act (Title 9, United States Code), notwithstanding any choice of law provision in this Contract. The Commercial Rules of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") also shall apply. The arbitrator(s) shall follow the law and shall give effect to statutes of limitation in determining any claim. Any controversy concerning whether an issue is arbitrable shall be determined by the arbitrator(s). The award of the arbitrator(s) shall be in writing and include a statement of reasons for the award. The award shall be final. Judgment upon the award may be entered in any court having jurisdiction, and no challenge to entry of judgment upon the award shall be entertained except as provided by Section 10 of the United States Arbitration Act or upon a finding of manifest injustice.

(Emphasis added).

¶ 3. On January 31, 2001, GreenPoint drafted $232.69 from the joint checking account of Eddie Adams and Beth Brown, at Security Bank of Amory ("Security Bank"). The check was "Signed: Linda G. Adams" by "Authorized Representative *705 Greenpoint Credit."[2] On February 15, 2001, Adams and Brown discovered that GreenPoint had presented the draft to Security Bank. Adams's affidavit states that he then:

went to the Bank and told a bank officer or employee that the draft was unauthorized, that my wife was dead and not on this account and, hence, could not [have] authorized a draft on it. We again notified the Bank of the unauthorized draft and complained about the checks being returned for insufficient funds on our account when we received notification of the checks being returned for insufficient funds on or about March 15, 2001.

(Emphasis added). Adams and Brown subsequently sued GreenPoint and Security Bank[3] in the Circuit Court of Monroe County alleging that:

[a]s a proximate result of the concurrent and combined aforesaid acts of Defendants, Plaintiffs' account was unlawfully subjected to the aforesaid draft issued by GreenPoint . . . As a further proximate result of the aforesaid illegal and wrongful draft upon Plaintiffs' aforesaid account, checks which were lawfully written by Plaintiffs on said account were returned for non-sufficient funds, and as a result of same an arrest warrant was issued for Plaintiffs, subjecting Plaintiffs to humiliation, embarrassment, defamation, mental stress, and other damages.

Adams and Brown asserted claims of fraud, negligence, intentional and/or negligent infliction of mental and emotional distress, breach of contract, and defamation.

¶ 4. GreenPoint filed a motion to dismiss and to compel arbitration arguing that "[p]ursuant to the terms of the Agreement and applicable law, the claims brought in this action are subject to binding arbitration and Plaintiffs may not proceed with this action." In response, Adams and Brown argued that the arbitration clause was unconscionable, inapplicable to their claims, and otherwise unenforceable.

¶ 5. Subsequently, GreenPoint filed a motion to stay discovery arguing that:

[a]ny action taken by GreenPoint inconsistent with enforcement of the arbitration clause, including participating in discovery, may adversely affect GreenPoint's rights to enforce the arbitration clause. See Cox v. Howard, Weil, Labouisse, Friedrichs, Inc., 619 So.2d 908 (Miss.1993), and Miss.Code Ann. Section 11-15-103. Discovery in this action should be stayed until GreenPoint's arbitration motion has been decided.

Adams and Brown responded by filing a motion to compel "GreenPoint Credit to respond to the discovery as tendered to it."

¶ 6. The circuit court heard GreenPoint's motion to dismiss and to compel arbitration. In its subsequent order, the court granted the motion to dismiss and to compel arbitration as to the claims asserted against GreenPoint, finding that "[p]ursuant to the terms of the Agreement and applicable law, Eddie Adams and Beth Brown are bound to submit their claims to arbitration . . . as required by the Agreement." Thereafter, Adams and Brown filed their notice of appeal.

¶ 7. On appeal, the Mississippi Court of Appeals was presented with two issues: (1) whether Adams's claims were subject to arbitration and (2) whether Brown's claims were subject to arbitration under the terms of the contract previously executed by her parents. See Adams v. *706 GreenPoint Credit, LLC, 943 So.2d 710, 713-14, 2006 WL 163514, 2006 Miss.App. LEXIS 64, at *6-8 (Miss.Ct.App.2006). The Court of Appeals affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part, finding that Adams was properly compelled to submit to arbitration, while Brown was not. See id. at 714-15, 2006 Miss. App. LEXIS 64, at *11-12. As to Adams, the Court of Appeals found that:

the arbitration agreement states that `any controversy or claim between or among you and me or our ass

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Adams v. Greenpoint Credit, LLC, 943 So. 2d 703, 2006 WL 3513562 (Mich. 2006).

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