Board of Education v. L. R. Foy Construction Co.

697 P.2d 456, 237 Kan. 1, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 396
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 26, 1985
Docket56,550
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 697 P.2d 456 (Board of Education v. L. R. Foy Construction Co.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Board of Education v. L. R. Foy Construction Co., 697 P.2d 456, 237 Kan. 1, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 396 (kan 1985).

Opinion

Per Curiam:

This is an appeal by the defendant, L. R. Foy Construction Company, Inc., from an order of the Kearny District Court affirming the award of arbitrators. The plaintiff, the Board of Education of Unified School District No. 215, is the appellee.

*2 A number of issues are raised, and each will be stated and determined later in this opinion.

The Board of Education entered into a contract with Foy Construction Company in 1978 whereby Foy agreed to remodel a school building and construct an addition to it. The contract contains no provisions for arbitration; but apparently the specifications, which by reference are made a part of the contract, provide for arbitration. No copy of the specifications is contained in the record on appeal, and thus we do not know what the specific terms of the arbitration provisions were.

A dispute arose between the contracting parties, and Foy sought to resolve the matter through arbitration. The Board commenced this action on December 15, 1980, by filing with the district court a petition seeking an order of the court staying the arbitration proceedings already commenced by Foy through the American Arbitration Association. Foy answered and sought an order of the court compelling arbitration. The trial court ordered arbitration, and the matters in dispute were then presented to a panel of three arbitrators. The presentation of evidence was completed on November 24, 1981, and the parties submitted proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law, the last of which were submitted on December 11, .1981. The arbitrators made their award on January 20, 1982. The arbitrators found that the Board was damaged in the sum of $450,099.19; that Foy was responsible for 43.75% of the damages, or $196,918.39; that the Board still owed Foy the sum of $140,217.57; and that, subtracting one from the other, the Board was entitled to recover judgment against Foy in the sum of $56,700.82. The district court ultimately confirmed the award and entered judgment for the Board and against Foy for $56,700.82. Foy appeals.

Foy first contends that the arbitrators’ award is so vague that it is invalid. The gist of this contention is that the arbitrators failed to specifically address each of the issues and contentions set forth by Foy in its proposed findings of fact and conclusions of law. The Court of Appeals, in Rural Water Dist. No. 6 v. Ziegler Corp., 9 Kan. App. 2d 305, 677 P.2d 573 (1984), said:

“To be valid, an arbitration award must be a full and final disposition on all points submitted.” Syl. ¶ 5.
“An arbitration award is final when it conclusively determines the matter submitted, leaving nothing to be done but to execute and carry out the terms of the award.” Syl. ¶ 6.

*3 There is nothing in the record before us to indicate specifically the items or matters that were originally submitted to arbitration; we are advised only that a dipsute arose over the work performed by Foy. While the arbitrators did not specifically set out their ruling on each of the items mentioned by Foy in its proposed findings submitted, it is apparent that the arbitrators made a final decision in an attempt to resolve all of the issues between the parties, which resulted in a lump sum award to the Board. The award, while not detailed, is not vague; and we conclude that this contention has no merit.

Next, Foy contends that the arbitrators exceeded their authority by entertaining and determining the Board’s counterclaim for the reason that the counterclaim was not in writing. Foy claims that this violates the American Arbitration Association rules. The AAA rules, however, are not a part of the record before us. The Board counters Foy’s argument by pointing out that Foy proceeded with arbitration without objecting to the fact that the counterclaim was not in writing.

The Board further argues that the AAA rules provide, in effect, that claims not originally stated may later be submitted with the arbitrators’ consent. Apparently the parties here proceeded to try the counterclaim, the arbitrators admitted evidence for and against the Board’s claim, and the arbitrators determined that claim in their ultimate award. In arbitration proceedings, as in other cases, it is the duty of an appellant to designate an adequate record on appeal to substantiate claims of error. Rural Water Dist. No. 6, at Syl. ¶ 4. We find nothing in the record before us to indicate that the arbitrators erred in considering the Board’s counterclaim.

Foy next contends there is no evidence to support the arbitrators’ award of 43.75% of the Board’s damages against Foy. Once again, we do not have before us the transcript of proceedings before the arbitrators, and we have no record upon which to review Foy’s claim that the evidence was insufficient to support the award.

For its fourth point, Foy contends that the arbitrators exceeded their authority by rendering an award more than thirty days after the close of the hearing. K.S.A. 5-408 requires the arbitrators to make an award “within the time fixed therefor by the agreement . . . .” We do not have before us the terms of the agreement of the parties. However, both parties agree that the *4 American Arbitration Association rules set a thirty-day time limit. The rules are not provided in the record, and we therefore do not quote from them. Likewise, there is no specific showing in the record as to the specific time the hearing was closed, although the parties agree that the last evidence was presented on November 30 and the last proposed findings were submitted on December 11. More than thirty days had expired at the time the award was made. There is, however, nothing in the record to indicate that the record was ever formally closed or that Foy objected, before the award was made, to the rendering of the award after the thirty-day period expired. To the contrary, some time after the award was made Foy filed an application with the arbitrators seeking clarification of the award. It was not until later that Foy filed a motion to vacate the award.

The application to the arbitrators for clarification, made pursuant to K.S.A. 5-409, was acknowledgment of the validity of the award. Foy was invoking the jurisdiction of the arbitration panel for the purpose of securing “clarification” — having the award clarified as Foy sought to have it read. By so moving, he acknowledged the jurisdiction of the panel and the efficacy of the award. We need not determine whether the thirty-day period fixed in the American Arbitration Association rules is directory or mandatory. From the record before us it is clear that Foy waived any right it may have had to object to the award on the ground that the arbitrators lost jurisdiction after the expiration of the thirty days by first moving to have the award clarified. Foy’s second motion is wholly inconsistent with and antagonistic to the first.

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697 P.2d 456, 237 Kan. 1, 1985 Kan. LEXIS 396, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/board-of-education-v-l-r-foy-construction-co-kan-1985.