Williams v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., No. 11-12150 (11th Cir. 2012)

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This appeal concerned the Eleventh Circuit's authority to review an order remanding an action based on an antecedent and erroneous ruling that an agreement to arbitrate was unenforceable. Petitioner St. Hugh Williams filed in a Florida court a complaint that, while working onboard the M/V Norwegian Sky, he was injured as a result of the negligence and other tortious conduct of the owner of the ship, NCL (Bahamas) Ltd. NCL removed the action to the district court on the ground that Petitioner was contractually bound to arbitrate his complaint under the United Nations Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, but Petitioner moved to remand the action to state court. The district court ruled that the arbitration clause was unenforceable and granted Petitioner's motion to remand. NCL appealed, and the Eleventh Circuit later held in "Lindo v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd.," (652 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2011)), that an agreement to arbitrate under the Convention is enforceable. Petitioner argued that the Eleventh Circuit lacked jurisdiction, but the Court found that it had jurisdiction to review the denial of the motion to compel under "City of Waco v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co.," (293 U.S. 140 (1934)). The Court reversed the order denying the motion to compel of NCL, vacated the order remanding Petitioner's complaint to state court, and remanded the case with instructions to compel arbitration.

The court issued a subsequent related opinion or order on August 21, 2012.

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[PUBLISH] IN THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FILED FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT U.S. COURT OF APPEALS ELEVENTH CIRCUIT ________________________ JULY 9, 2012 JOHN LEY CLERK No. 11-12150 Non-Argument Calendar ________________________ D.C. Docket No. 1:10-cv-22046-JAL ST. HUGH WILLIAMS, Plaintiff - Appellee, versus NCL (BAHAMAS) LTD., d.b.a. NCL, Defendant - Appellant. ________________________ Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ________________________ (July 9, 2012) Before TJOFLAT, PRYOR and KRAVITCH, Circuit Judges. PER CURIAM: This appeal concerns our authority to review an order remanding an action based on an antecedent and erroneous ruling that an agreement to arbitrate was unenforceable. St. Hugh Williams filed in a Florida court a complaint that, while working onboard the M/V Norwegian Sky, he was injured as a result of the negligence and other tortious conduct of the owner of the ship, NCL (Bahamas) Ltd. See 46 U.S.C. § 30104. NCL removed the action to the district court on the ground that Williams was contractually bound to arbitrate his complaint under the United Nations Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, 9 U.S.C. § 205, but Williams moved to remand the action to state court. The district court ruled that the arbitration clause was unenforceable, see Thomas v. Carnival Corp., 573 F.3d 1113 (11th Cir. 2009), and then the district court granted Williams s motion to remand. NCL appealed, and this Court later held, in Lindo v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., 652 F.3d 1257 (11th Cir. 2011), that an agreement to arbitrate under the Convention is enforceable. Williams argues that this Court lacks jurisdiction, 28 U.S.C. § 1447(d), but we have jurisdiction to review the denial of the motion to compel under City of Waco v. U.S. Fidelity & Guaranty Co., 293 U.S. 140, 55 S. Ct. 6 (1934). We reverse the order denying the motion to compel of NCL, vacate the order remanding Williams s complaint to state court, and remand with instructions to compel arbitration. 2 We may review the denial of the motion of NCL to compel arbitration under an exception to section 1447(d). In Waco, the Supreme Court held that an appellate court may review a decision of the district court that in logic and in fact . . . preceded that of remand and that, if not reversed or set aside, is conclusive upon the appellant. 293 U.S. at 143, 55 S. Ct. at 7. Waco allows [an appellate court] to review district court orders that lead to, but are separate from, orders of remand and have a conclusive effect upon the ensuing state court action. Aquamar, S.A. v. Del Monte Fresh Produce N.A., Inc., 179 F.3d 1279, 1286 (11th Cir. 1999). The ruling that the arbitration clause was unenforceable was separate from and lead to the order of remand. The district court resolved the merits of the motion to compel and then ruled that it lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate the dispute between Williams and NCL. The ruling also changes the contours of the state court action after remand. Id. Under Florida law, collateral estoppel applies when the identical issue has been fully litigated between the identical parties and determined in a contest that result[ed] in a final decision of a court of competent jurisdiction. City of Oldsmar v. State, 790 So. 2d 1042, 1046 n.4 (Fla. 2001). On remand to a Florida court, NCL would be barred from compelling Williams to arbitrate his complaint. The district court erred when it denied the motion of NCL to compel 3 Williams to arbitrate his complaint. The district court based its ruling on our decision in Thomas v. Carnival, 573 F.3d at 1122 24, where we refused to enforce an agreement to arbitrate under the United Nations Convention on the ground that it was null and void as a matter of public policy because the complainant could not assert statutory claims for relief. We have since ruled in Lindo that Thomas is inconsistent with our prior precedent in Bautista v. Star Cruises, 396 F.3d 1289, 1302 (11th Cir. 2005). To the extent Thomas was applying Article II of the Convention, Thomas failed to follow our precedent in . . . Bautista by recognizing public policy as an additional defense to enforcement of an arbitration agreement. Lindo, 652 F.3d at 1277 78. Our precedent dictates that a court must enforce an agreement to arbitrate under the Convention unless that agreement is null and void as being obtained through those limited situations, such as fraud, mistake, duress, and waiver, constituting standard breach-of-contract defenses that can be applied neutrally on an international scale. Id. at 1276 (quoting Bautista, 396 F.3d at 1302). Williams did not assert any of these grounds in response to the motion to compel, and NCL was entitled to compel Williams to arbitrate. We REVERSE the order denying the motion to compel of NCL, VACATE the order remanding this action to state court, and REMAND with instructions to 4 compel Williams to arbitrate his dispute with NCL. 5

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