The district court had denied a motion filed by a former employee of a department store for vacatur of an arbitration award that rejected a grievance filed by the employee’s union against the store. On appeal, the employee argued that the district court erred when it denied vacatur because the award was obtained by fraud, namely, false testimony. The Second Circuit affirmed, holding that, because the employee provided no record evidence of the arbitration testimony, and only repeated “unsupported allegations,” the appellant failed to show (1) the existence of fraudulent activity; (2) that, even with the exercise of due diligence, he could not have discovered the fraud prior to the award issuing; and (3) that the fraud materially related to an issue in the arbitration. The court concluded: “Without providing at least the challenged testimony, [the appellant] has failed to show that any perjury occurred or even that the testimony he wishes to challenge was materially related to the arbitrator’s decision.” The court affirmed, ruling that the employee failed to demonstrate any error with the denial of the motion for vacatur.
Bright-Asante v. Saks & Co., No. 20-1280 (2d Cir. May 14, 2021).