Thomas Diaz, Inc. v. Colombina, S.A.

831 F. Supp. 2d 528, 2011 WL 6056717, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140412
CourtDistrict Court, D. Puerto Rico
DecidedDecember 6, 2011
DocketCivil No. 10-1426 (PG)
StatusPublished
Cited by3 cases

This text of 831 F. Supp. 2d 528 (Thomas Diaz, Inc. v. Colombina, S.A.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Puerto Rico primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Thomas Diaz, Inc. v. Colombina, S.A., 831 F. Supp. 2d 528, 2011 WL 6056717, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140412 (prd 2011).

Opinion

OPINION AND ORDER

JUAN M. PÉREZ-GIMÉNEZ, District Judge.

Pending now before the Court are plaintiff Thomas Diaz, Inc.’s (“TDI” or “Plaintiff’) motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 23) and defendant Colombina, S.A.’s (“Colombina” or “Defendant”) motion to stay, vacate or modify the arbitration award (Docket No. 29). For the reasons set forth below, the Court GRANTS IN PART the Plaintiffs motion for summary judgment (Docket No. 23) and DENIES the Defendant’s motion to stay, vacate or modify arbitration award (Docket No. 29).

[531]*531I. BACKGROUND

Plaintiff Thomas Diaz, Inc. is a corporation organized and existing pursuant to the laws of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, with its principal place of business located in Toa Baja, Puerto Rico. Defendant Colombina S.A. is a corporation organized and existing pursuant to the laws of the Republic of Colombia, South America with principal place of business in Cali, Colombia. On May 19, 2010, Plaintiff filed the above-captioned diversity suit pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., seeking the enforcement of an arbitration award against defendant Colombina for the amount of $3,720,359.78, plus costs, expenses, and interests. See Docket No. 1.

In the complaint filed on May 19, 2010, TDI alleges that in a prior case before this Court, Civil Case No. 07-1148(RLA), the parties entered into an Arbitration Agreement on March 30th, 2007 via judicial stipulation. The parties agreed to enter into arbitration in order to address and resolve certain disputes dealing with the cancellation of the parties’ distribution agreement, which had been in place for over forty years. See Docket No. 1. The parties selected attorney Angel F. RossyGarcia (“Rossy” or “the Arbitrator”) to be the Arbitrator in this matter. Mr. Rossy is a retired judge of the Appeals Court and the Court of First Instance of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. By agreement between the parties, the action was bifurcated in two phases, the first being a determination of whether there was “just cause” to terminate the relationship under the Puerto Rico’s Dealer’s Act, Law No. 75 of June 24, 1964, as amended, P.R. Laws Ann. tit. 10, § 278 et seq. (hereinafter “Act No. 75”). If just cause for the termination of the contract between the parties was not found, then, the second phase would entail the determination of damages, if any, under the applicable damages provisions of Act No. 75.

During the first phase of the arbitration proceedings, on April 22, 2009, the Arbitrator found in favor of TDI, that is, that Colombina did not have just cause to terminate the commercial relationship between the parties. Colombina does not challenge this partial award in the proceedings now before this Court. See Docket No. 29 at page 5.

After further hearings, on March 31, 2010, the Arbitrator reached a final arbitration award determining the amount of damages Colombina owed to TDI. The Arbitrator determined that the Defendant owed Plaintiff the sum of $3,720,359.78, plus costs, expenses, and interests at the rate set by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Institutions as of the date of entry of the award. The total amount is itemized as follows: (1) $1,854,000 in benefits TDI failed to obtain in the distribution and sale of the Colombina products; (2) $1,841,000 in goodwill attributed to the distribution of the Colombina merchandise; and, (3) $25,360.78 in advertising expenses incurred for the benefit of the marketing of Colombina products in Puerto Rico. See Arbitration Award, Docket No. 23-3. In addition, the arbitrator awarded TDI the amount of $127,432.63 for costs and expenses.

In addition to filing the complaint, on November 2, 2010, the Plaintiff filed a motion for summary judgment requesting the Court enter an order confirming the totality of the award granted to TDI and ordering the Defendant to additionally pay attorney fees and costs in this matter. See Docket No. 23. Shortly thereafter, Colombina filed a motion to stay, vacate or modify the arbitration award arguing that the award in question is grossly excessive, punitive in nature, as well as unsupported by the evidence presented during the arbitra[532]*532tion proceedings. See Docket No. 29. Also before the Court are the parties’ respective oppositions to these motions.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Stay, Vacate or Modify Arbitration Award

1. Scope of Review1

A federal court’s review of an arbitrator’s decision is “extremely narrow and exceedingly deferential.” Airline Pilots Ass’n, Int’l v. Pan Am. Airways Corp., 405 F.3d 25, 30 (1st Cir.2005) (quoting Bull HN Info. Sys., Inc. v. Hutson, 229 F.3d 321, 330 (1st Cir.2000)). “Indeed, it is ‘among the narrowest known in the law.’ ” Ramos-Santiago v. United Parcel Service, 524 F.3d 120, 123 (1st Cir.2008) (citing Maine Cent. R.R. Co. v. Bhd. of Maint. of Way Employees, 873 F.2d 425, 428 (1st Cir.1989)). “Nevertheless, there are limits to that deference.” Eastern Seaboard Const. Co., Inc. v. Gray Const., Inc., 553 F.3d 1, 3 (1st Cir.2008) (citing Kashner Davidson Secs. Corp. v. Mscisz, 531 F.3d 68, 70 (1st Cir.2008)). Specifically, courts must ensure that arbitration decisions comply with the exceptions codified in the FAA in actions brought under this statute.2 See Kashner Davidson Securities, 531 F.3d at 74 (internal citations omitted).

Section 10 of the FAA provides the grounds for vacating awards while Section 11 lists those pertinent to modifying or correcting an award. In essence, Section 10 “authorizes vacatur of an award in cases of specified misconduct or misbehavior on the arbitrators’ part, actions in excess of arbitral powers, or failures to consummate the award.” UMass Memorial Medical Center, Inc. v. United Food And Commercial Workers Union, 527 F.3d 1, 6 (1st Cir.2008) (internal citations and quotation [533]*533marks omitted). Section 10(a) specifically allows a court enter an order vacating an arbitration award upon a party’s application:

(1) where the award was procured by corruption, fraud, or undue means;
(2) where there was evident partiality or corruption in the arbitrators, or either of them;

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831 F. Supp. 2d 528, 2011 WL 6056717, 2011 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 140412, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/thomas-diaz-inc-v-colombina-sa-prd-2011.