Re/Max International, Inc. v. Zames

995 F. Supp. 781, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2297, 1998 WL 91087
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Ohio
DecidedFebruary 20, 1998
Docket1:97-cv-01589
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 995 F. Supp. 781 (Re/Max International, Inc. v. Zames) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Re/Max International, Inc. v. Zames, 995 F. Supp. 781, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2297, 1998 WL 91087 (N.D. Ohio 1998).

Opinion

ORDER AND OPINION

GWIN, District Judge.

On June 10, 1997, Petitioner RE/MAX International, Inc. filed a motion and application to vacate the March 11, 1997, award of arbitrators selected under the parties agreement [Doe. 1]. On January 16, 1998, Respondents Robert Zames and Zames Realty, Inc. filed an application to confirm the March 11, 1997, arbitration award [Doe. 14], For the reasons that follow, the Court denies Petitioner RE/MAX’s application to vacate the award and the Court grants Respondent Zames’ motion to confirm the arbitration award.

I

Petitioner RE/MAX International, Inc. seeks an order partially vacating an arbitration award on two grounds. 1 First, Petitioner RE/MAX says the arbitrators exceeded their powers in rendering an award in a breach-of-contract claim. RE/MAX claims that an express one-year contractual limitation period in the parties’ written contract barred the award. Second, Petitioner RE/ MAX says this Court should vacate the award because the award was procured by fraud.

*783 Petitioner RE/MAX is a corporation engaged in the business of selling real estate brokerage franchises. Respondent Robert Zames is an individual who made claims against RE/MAX in an arbitration. Respondent Zames Realty Inc. was the other claimant in the arbitration against RE/MAX International.

On May 9,1991, Robert Zames, as franchisee, entered a Franchise Agreement with an affiliate of RE/MAX. On May 3, 1994, Respondents Robert Zames and Zames Realty Incorporated (collectively, “Zames”) sued in the Court of Common Pleas for Lake County, Ohio, against RE/MAX International and others. The complaint generally alleged breach of contract, bad faith, wrongful use of trademarks, tortious interference of contract, and fraud arising out of the execution and performance of the Franchise Agreement.

On June 20, 1994, RE/MAX International moved to dismiss Zames’ Lake County Complaint for lack of jurisdiction on two grounds. First, RE/MAX International contended that the applicable Franchise Agreement contained an enforceable arbitration clause that required Zames to submit any claims to binding arbitration under a dispute resolution system detailed in the Franchise Agreement. Second, RE/MAX International contended that the exclusive venue for the judicial enforcement of the arbitration provision and any judicial proceeding arising under the Franchise Agreement is in Denver County, Colorado.

In response, Zames’ counsel’s contended that they properly sited the arbitration in Ohio. Petitioner RE/MAX then suggested a new arbitration agreement. After negotiations, Petitioner RE/MAX and Zames entered a supplemental arbitration agreement dated December 1, 1994. Petitioner RE/ MAX’s attorneys drafted the supplemental agreement. In this supplemental agreement, Respondent Zames agreed to allow discovery that was not otherwise available under the parties franchise contract. Zames also agreed to a covenant not to bring a civil

action against RE/MAX or any individual defendant associated with RE/MAX. 2 This supplemental arbitration agreement required the parties to submit any currently existing claims to binding arbitration in Cuyahoga County, Ohio pursuant to Section 2711 of the Ohio Revised Code.

The arbitration hearing began on December 20, 1995. On the first day of this hearing, Petitioner RE/MAX argued that Zames had failed to timely bring his claim. When the hearing reconvened for a second day, RE/MAX raised an issue whether the arbitration panel had jurisdiction because of the timeliness issue. RE/MAX recessed the hearing, claiming it would seek judicial determination of this issue. RE/MAX then delayed seeking such determination until February 1, 1996, when it filed a declaratory judgment action in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Case No. 1:96— CV-213.

There, “RE/MAX International contends that the arbitration tribunal has no jurisdiction or authority to hear evidence on or decide the merits of the case” because “Zames’ claims against it are all time-barred under the express terms of the Franchise Agreement.”

On April 16, 1996, Judge Matia denied RE/MAX’s request. He granted Zames’ motion to compel arbitration. 3 While RE/MAX had raised the issue of timeliness, Judge Matia decided that a covenant not to sue stopped the action. RE/MAX filed a motion to reconsider this order. On August 6,1996, Judge Matia denied this motion to reconsider. On September 5, 1996, RE/MAX filed a notice of appeal to the Sixth Circuit from Judge Matia’s judgment. On June 6, 1997, RE/MAX dismissed its appeal to the Sixth Circuit.

The parties held an arbitration hearing from January 6, 1997 through January 11, 1997. 4 At the hearing, Zames made claims for breach of contract, bad faith, and viola *784 tions of Ohio’s Business Opportunity Plans Act, Ohio Rev.Code § 1335.01 et seq. At the arbitration, Petitioner RE/MAX made claim for unpaid franchise fees. Petitioner RE/ MAX also claimed that the arbitration panel did not have jurisdiction because Zames failed to bring his claim within one year of accrual. 5

On March 11, 1997, the three-member arbitration panel rendered its award and opinion. The arbitration panel rejected Zames’ claims for bad faith and for violation of Ohio’s Business Opportunity Plans Act but awarded Zames $100,000 on his breach of contract claim. The arbitration panel denied Petitioner RE/MAX’s counterclaim for unpaid franchise fees.

II

Petitioner RE/MAX says this Court should vacate the March 11,1997,. arbitration award because it says a one-year contractual limitation period in the Franchise Agreement barred the award. RE/MAX says that provision required Respondent Zames’ claims be brought within one-year of accrual. 6 RE/ MAX says it did not waive this requirement when it entered the supplemental agreement in December 1994. Petitioner RE/MAX claims the arbitrators exceeded their authority by giving Zames’ an award despite Zames’ purported concession that he did not file his contract claim within one year of the occurrence of the facts leading to his breach-of-contract claim. 7 Alternatively, Petitioner RE/MAX says this Court should vacate the arbitration award because it was obtained through fraud.

Res judicata bars repetitious suits involving the same cause of action. The bar rests upon considerations of economy of judicial time and public policy favoring the establishment of certainty in legal relations. The rule provides that when a court of competent jurisdiction has entered a final judgment on the merits of a cause of action, the parties to the suit and their privies are thereafter bound not only as to every matter offered and received to sustain or defeat the claim or demand, but as to any other admissible matter that they might have offered for that purpose. Sea-Land Services, Inc. v.

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995 F. Supp. 781, 1998 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 2297, 1998 WL 91087, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/remax-international-inc-v-zames-ohnd-1998.