Court Affirms Arbitration Award

Here, a trustee (plaintiff in this case), contracted to supply the defendant company with seven railcars of organic corn.  In 2007, the plaintiff loaded a railcar with corn. During transit, nearly 500 bushels of corn leaked out due to improper loading. The defendant believed the plaintiff was responsible for the lost corn and only paid for the amount delivered. When the plaintiff received the payment, he notified the defendant that they were in breach of contract for failure to pay the full amount and refused to deliver the other six railcars of corn. 

The plaintiff sued for unjust enrichment and alleged that the parties’ contract was void. He further alleged that the contract was unenforceable because the defendant didn’t have a valid Iowa grain dealer’s license. The defendant asked the court to submit the matter to arbitration (the parties had agreed to arbitrate disputes arising under the contract). The matter was submitted to a panel of three arbitrators who ultimately awarded the defendant nearly $11,000 based upon the loss they sustained from the plaintiff’s refusal to deliver. The trial court confirmed the arbitrators’ ruling and the plaintiff appealed. 
Upon appeal, the plaintiff argued that the arbitration provision of the contract should not have been enforced by the court because the underlying contract was void and unenforceable. However, the Iowa Court of Appeals confirmed the arbitration award. According to the court, the plaintiff did not resist the motion to confirm the arbitration award in a timely manner. Here, the court never really got to an analysis of whether or not the arbitration clause was enforceable, because the plaintiff did not properly comply with procedural matters. Basik Five Trust v. West Plains Company, No. 1-101/10-1341 (Iowa Ct. App. Apr. 27, 2011).