A federal appellate court upheld a lower court ruling in favor of a Crum & Forster Holdings Corp. unit, in a dispute over a Superstorm Sandy-related arbitration award filed by a real estate company.
Newington, Connecticut-based Loch View LLC owns several buildings in Willimantic, Connecticut, which were insured by the C&F unit New York-based Seneca Insurance Co. Inc., according to Friday’s decision of the 2nd U.S. Court of Appeals in New York in Loch View LLC v. Seneca Insurance Co. Inc.
Loch View sought coverage under its policy after the buildings were damaged in October 2012’s Superstorm Sandy, the ruling said.
Loch View brought an action before the U.S. District Court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, alleging breach of contract among other claims after Seneca refused to pay the amount it believed it owed under the policy, the ruling said. The court upheld Seneca̵
7;s request to force arbitration under the Federal Arbitration Act.The parties each chose an arbitrator who in turn jointly appointed a judge to decide matters on which the two arbitrators could not agree.
After the judge awarded Loch View $ 284,438.43, the company asked the court to leave the verdict, arguing, among other things, that it was inappropriate because it was done more than 30 days after receiving the arbitrators’ submissions.
The district rejected the motion to vacate and confirmed the award, which Loch View appealed. A unanimous three-judge appeals court panel upheld the lower court.
According to Loch View, the district court erred in failing to make the arbitral award so inappropriate under the “manifest violation of the law” standard, the ruling said.
But the company “has failed to show a clear disregard in this case,” it said, confirming the lower court’s decision.
The lawyers in the case had no comments or did not respond to a request for comment.
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