Spahr Ex Rel. Spahr v. Secco

330 F.3d 1266, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 11083, 2003 WL 21267775
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
DecidedJune 3, 2003
Docket00-1132, 00-1152
StatusPublished
Cited by86 cases

This text of 330 F.3d 1266 (Spahr Ex Rel. Spahr v. Secco) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Spahr Ex Rel. Spahr v. Secco, 330 F.3d 1266, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 11083, 2003 WL 21267775 (10th Cir. 2003).

Opinion

LUCERO, Circuit Judge.

In August 1999, William J; Spahr, through the co-conservators of his estate, brought suit in state court against U.S. • Bancorp Investments, Inc., and Melissa Catherine Secco, alleging breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, constructive trust, and negligence. Defendants removed the case to federal court and then filed a motion to stay the proceedings and order, arbitration, pursuant to an agreement signed by Spahr in 1995. On the basis that the parties’ agreement, which contained an arbitration provision, was unenforceable due to Spahr’s mental incapacity, the district court denied the motion. This appeal presents the question, not yet considered *1268 in this circuit, whether the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 4, dictates that an arbitrator, rather than the court, decide a mental capacity challenge to a contract providing for arbitration of all disputes relating to that contract. Exercising jurisdiction under 9 U.S.C. § 16, we conclude that it does not and affirm the district court’s order denying arbitration.

I

According to the complaint, Spahr “is an adult and unable to manage his property and financial affairs effectively because he suffers from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.” (U.S. Bancorp’s App. at 8 ¶ 2.) On June 6, 1995, he opened an investment account at U.S. Bancorp, formerly known as FBS Investment Services, Inc., through Secco, its employee. In doing so, Spahr signed a Cash Account Agreement promising to submit any controversy arising out of the account to arbitration:

I agree that any controversy arising out of or relating to my account, to transactions with or for me or to this agreement or the breach thereof, whether executed or to be executed within or outside of the United States, and whether asserted against broker-dealer and/or its present or former agents or employees, will be settled by arbitration before and in accordance with the then current rules of the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc. [ (“NASD”) ].

(Id. at 82 ¶ 24.)

During the following year, Secco exploited Spahr’s mental deficiencies and finagled him out of large sums of money and real estate. In doing so, Spahr claims, Secco breached her fiduciary duties as Spahr’s broker, investment advisor, and trustee. Spahr also alleges that Secco defrauded and exercised undue influence over him.

Spahr seeks recovery from U.S. Ban-corp under vicarious liability and negligence theories. Although much of the challenged conduct occurred after U.S. Bancorp discharged Secco for violating NASD broker-dealer ethical guidelines, the complaint alleges that as an employee, Secco was “ ‘legendary’ in the stock brokerage community for convincing elderly men to loan her money in exchange for sex.” (Id. at 9 ¶ 13.) Spahr claims that U.S. Bancorp was negligent in employing her for “[a] ... position that involved close contact with the clients of [U.S. Bancorp], handling funds of the clients of [U.S. Ban-corp] and making investment recommendations for clients.” (Id. at 16 ¶ 78.) After the suit was filed, U.S. Bancorp filed a motion — which Secco sought to join — to stay the district court proceedings and compel arbitration based on the Cash Account Agreement signed by Spahr and subsequent customer agreements signed on his behalf. 1

After a two-day evidentiary hearing on U.S. Bancorp’s motion to compel arbitration, the district court concluded that the 1995 Cash Account Agreement “is not an enforceable agreement under the law [for] failure of [Spahr] to have sufficient mental capacity to understand the nature and effect of this contract.” (Id. at 211.) On this basis, the court denied U.S. Bancorp’s motion to compel arbitration. In response to U.S. Bancorp’s argument that subsequent customer agreements signed by co-trust *1269 ees of the Spahr Trust and Spahr’s co-conservators require arbitration, the court concluded that “[t]he matter of later ratification has nothing to do with this case.” (Id. at 210.) Denying Secco’s request to join U.S. Bancorp’s motion, the district court determined that the “allegations here deal with things that had nothing to do with ... [Secco] being the customer’s representative for [U.S. Bancorp].” (Sec-co’s App. at 82.)

On appeal, U.S. Bancorp and Secco challenge the district court’s rulings on the ground that Spahr’s mental incompetence claim must be submitted to arbitration under the parties’ agreement. Defendants also challenge the district court’s decision that Spahr was not obligated to arbitrate this dispute based on the subsequent customer agreements signed on his behalf. Secco further contends that the district court misconstrued the arbitration provision to exclude the claims against her. 2

II

We review de novo trial court denials of motions to compel arbitration. Williams v. Imhoff, 203 F.3d 758, 762 (10th Cir.2000). Motions to compel arbitration are governed by 9 U.S.C. § 4, 3 which provides:

The court shall hear the parties, and upon being satisfied that the making of the agreement for arbitration or the failure to comply therewith is not in issue, the court shall make an order directing the parties to proceed to arbitration in accordance with the terms of the agreement. ... If the making of the arbitration agreement or the failure, neglect, or refusal to perform the same be in issue, the court shall proceed summarily to the trial thereof. 4

9 U.S.C. § 4 (emphasis added). This provision requires judicial resolution of issues that go to the “making” of an agreement for arbitration. Prima Paint Corp. v. Flood & Conklin Mfg., 388 U.S. 395, 403-04, 87 S.Ct. 1801, 18 L.Ed.2d 1270 (1967). It has long been a tenet of federal arbitration law that “arbitration is a matter of contract and a party cannot be required to submit to arbitration any dispute which he has not agreed so to submit.” AT & T Techs. v. Communications Workers of Am., 475 U.S. 643, 648, 106 S.Ct. 1415, 89 L.Ed.2d 648 (1986). It follows that “[t]he question whether the parties have submitted a particular dispute to arbitration, i.e., the ‘question of arbitrability,’ is an issue for judicial determination unless the parties clearly and unmistakably provide otherwise.” Howsam, 123 S.Ct. at 591.

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Bluebook (online)
330 F.3d 1266, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 11083, 2003 WL 21267775, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/spahr-ex-rel-spahr-v-secco-ca10-2003.