Federal Court Kept Jurisdiction To Decide Arbitral Award

The US Supreme Court has ruled that a federal court that stayed an employment discrimination case based on a binding arbitration clause retained jurisdiction to decide the merits of an arbitral award notwithstanding the employee’s contention that motions to confirm and vacate failed to independently support federal question or diversity jurisdiction

WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT… The Supreme Court ruled that because the district court originally had federal jurisdiction to send the matter to arbitration, it also had jurisdiction to decide the case and the post-arbitration motions. The court never lost jurisdiction. This resolves a dispute among courts over whether federal courts retain jurisdiction in cases they send to arbitration. It means a separate lawsuit on these post-arbitration motions is unnecessary.