RCD Wins Appeal to Compel Arbitration
The North Carolina Court of Appeals published an opinion in iPayment, Inc. v. Kelly M. Grainger, Individually and as Administrator of the Estate of George Gregory Grainger, et al., North Carolina Court of Appeals Case No. 16-908, on January 2, 2018, reversing the trial court (NC Superior Court, Union County Case No. 15-CVS-2234) and finding in favor of RCD’s client iPayment, Inc. that a motion to compel arbitration of counterclaims should have been granted. The adverse party argued that iPayment had waived the right to arbitration of counterclaims by bringing its unrelated lawsuit. The Court of Appeals disagreed, finding that because iPayment’s claims in the underlying lawsuit were unrelated to the arbitrable counterclaims, and the discovery that had been conducted prior to the motion to compel arbitration was not inconsistent with the parties’ rights under the arbitration clause, the right to arbitration was preserved and arbitration should have been compelled. The case was remanded to the trial court for an order consistent with the opinion. A copy of the Court of Appeals opinion can be viewed here.