The National Arbitration Forum Blog

There is an arbitration case out of Florida with an unremarkable ruling but an interesting fact pattern.

One of the parties was hired to remediate the National Enquirer building in Florida that was targeted in the 2001 anthrax attacks. During the process, the employees of the remediation company found a photograph taken of Elvis Presley when he was in his coffin. The head of the remediation company allegedly threatened to "lose" the photograph if the project deadline were not extended.

When the owner of the building reclaimed the premises, the picture could not be found. An affiliate of the building owner then sued the head of the remediation company for conversion. The head of the remediation company moved to compel arbitration pursuant to an agreement between the remediation company and the building owner, but the court denied the motion, noting the absence of any case law allowing a non-signatory to enforce an arbitration agreement against another non-signatory.

See American Personality Photos, LLC v. Mason, No. 08-80507-CIV, 2008 WL 5111332 (S.D. Fla. Dec. 4, 2008) (paid subscription required).