Bear Stearns filed suit in New York state court against two former employees to recover funds it alleges was due and owing on promissory notes executed by the former employees. The defendants removed the action to the Southern District of New York and subsequently moved to compel arbitration pursuant to their employee agreements. Noting the presumption in favor of arbitration, the district court explained that even though the forum clause included in the promissory notes was not exclusive and made no mention of arbitration, such disputes fell within the scope of the employment agreements’ arbitration clause. The court stayed all proceedings pending the conclusion of arbitration. Bear Stearns & Co. v. Gordon, 08 Civ. 8596 (S.D. N.Y. Jul. 1, 2009); Bear Stearns & Co v. Cohen, 08 Civ. 8597 (S.D. N.Y. Jul. 1, 2009).
This post written by John Black.