Supreme Court Upholds Arbitrator’s Decision Regarding Class Arbitration

Court holds that an arbitrator did not exceed his powers under the Federal Arbitration Act in finding that class procedures were authorized because the parties agreed that the arbitrator could decide the question.

On June 10, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision in Oxford Health Plans LLC v. Sutter, ruling that an arbitrator's finding that a contract allowed for class arbitration was a proper exercise of his powers under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and could not be disturbed by the Court.¹ Critically, the Court found that Oxford had agreed that the arbitrator should determine whether the contract authorized class procedures, and, therefore, the Court did not address whether that question was a "question of arbitrability" that is presumptively for the court to decide or review on a de novo basis. Instead, in light of the parties' agreement that the arbitrator was vested with the authority to answer the question of class arbitration, the Court