Arbitration of Pope Construction Co. v. State Highway Commission

92 S.W.2d 974, 230 Mo. App. 502, 1936 Mo. App. LEXIS 126
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedApril 6, 1936
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 92 S.W.2d 974 (Arbitration of Pope Construction Co. v. State Highway Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Arbitration of Pope Construction Co. v. State Highway Commission, 92 S.W.2d 974, 230 Mo. App. 502, 1936 Mo. App. LEXIS 126 (Mo. Ct. App. 1936).

Opinion

BLAND, J.

This is an appeal from an .order vacating an award made in an- arbitration proceeding between the Pope Construction Company and the State Highway Commission.

The facts show that the Pope Construction Company (hereinafter referred to as the construction company) constructed certain state highway projects in DeKalb and Andrew counties under a contract therefor with the State Highway Commission. Upon the completion of the work the construction company claimed that the State Highway Commission was indebted to it for various extra items. The matter was taken up by it with Mr. Levi, the chief construction en *504 gineer for the State Highway Department. The construction company had one Charles W. Ellis prepare a claim consisting of nine items aggregating the. sum of $39,903.61, which Ellis presented to Levi on March 1, 1933, and which the Highway Commission refused to pay. Thereafter, the construction company and the State Highway Commission entered, into a written agreement to arbitrate the controversy.

The agreement of submission provided that the arbitration should be in accordance with Chapter 122, R. S. 1929, which relates to arbitrations; that each party should appoint one arbitrator and that the two so chosen should appoint a third arbitrator. The agreement was signed by the parties on September 1, 1933, and acknowledged by them before a notary on the 10th of November of that year. Sam H. Olelland was selected by the State Highway Commission and Charles "W. Ellis by the construction company as arbitrators. Although Ellis had theretofore represented the construction company in the matter of its claim, his selection as arbitrator was agreeable to Mr. Levi. However, subsequently, Mr. Ellis refused to serve and Mr. Felix Kersting was selected by the construction company to serve in his place. These two selected a third arbitrator, Mr. Roy Jablonsky. All of the arbitrators lived in the city of St. Louis. They took the oath prescribed by the statute and hearings were had in St. Louis and a report and award were made.

The arbitrators found that the Highway Commission was indebted to the construction company in the sum of $1050.35 and they assessed the costs. The submission agreement designated- the Circuit Court of Cole County as the court to which the award should be returned. Section 14023, R. S. 1929, provides that “the court designated in the submission shall, upon motion, by an order in open court, confirm the award unless the same be vacated or modified, ... as hereinafter provided.”

After the award was made the State Highway Commission duly filed its motion in the Circuit Court of Cole County, praying that the award be confirmed. The report and the award made by the arbitrators were filed with the motion. Thereafter, the construction company filed a motion to vacate the award, which was sustained by the court, and the State Highway Commission has appealed.

Both of the motions were heard by the court at the same time, the evidence admitted- on behalf of each of the parties being by affidavits.

The construction company prayed the court to vacate the award for the following reasons:

“First. None of the witnesses who. appeared before the arbitrators were sworn either before or after they were examined.

‘ ‘ Second. The stenographer who was employed to take down the testimony in shorthand was incompetent and could not and did not take down all of said testimony and transcribe the same properly *505 and fully, and failed to take down and transcribe a part of the material and competent testimony offered by the Pope Construction Company, and the findings of the arbitrators were based upon the testimony as imperfectly and erroneously taken down and transcribed by said stenographer. Said stenographer was selected and chosen by the arbitrator, S. H. Clelland.

“Third. The award was procured by undue means.

“Fourth. There was evident partiality and corruption on the part of S. H. Clelland, one of said arbitrators.

“Fifth. The arbitrators, and in particular S. H. Clelland, one of said arbitrators, were guilty of misconduct and misbehavior on account of which the rights of the Pope Construction Company have been prejudiced.

“Sixth. The arbitrators exceeded their powers and so imperfectly executed them that a mutual, final and definite award on the subject matter was not made.

“The Pope Construction Company further states that the aforesaid S. H. Clelland was designated and named by the State Highway Department as one of the arbitrators, and that the said Highway Department and the said S. H. Clelland have misconceived the duties of an arbitrator, and that throughout the hearings and proceedings the said Highway Department and S. H. Clelland considered' the said S. H. Clelland to be in fact a representative, agent and attorney of the Highway Department, and not an impartial and fair arbitrator; and at and during the hearings held by the arbitrators the said S. H. Clelland submitted on behalf of the State Highway Department the evidence the State Highway Department desired to be offered and cross-examined the witnesses offered by the Pope Construction Company.

“Movant further states that prior to said hearings and during the times said hearings were conducted, the said S. H. Clelland came from St. Louis to Jefferson City, on at least two occasions, and consulted with the officers, agents and employees of the State Highway Department in regard to the subject matters of the arbitration, and that on said occasions the officers, agents and employees of the State Highway Department discussed with the said S. H. Clelland the matters involved, and that on account thereof the said S. H. Clelland had arrived at his decision and conclusions in regard to the merits involved in the arbitration proceedings before the hearings were held, and that the Pope Construction Company had no knowledge of any of such facts until after said hearings were held and the award was made.

“Movant states that the said S. H. Clelland was a self-designated leader of the three arbitrators, and that on account of his superior knowledge of the subject matters under submission, he influenced and predominated the other two arbitrators in their decisions and *506 findings and that therefore the award and findings as made were in reality those of one partial and interested agent and attorney and not those of three impartial and disinterested arbitrators.

“Movant further states that the costs assessed by the arbitrators are excessive and improper.”

Section 14025, Revised Statutes 1929, provides as to how and for what cause an award may be vacated. This section reads as follows:

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Bluebook (online)
92 S.W.2d 974, 230 Mo. App. 502, 1936 Mo. App. LEXIS 126, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/arbitration-of-pope-construction-co-v-state-highway-commission-moctapp-1936.