BMW Bank of North Am. v. Short

The arbitrator's finding that the appellant's repossession plaintiff the appellee's vehicle was reckless and outrageous did not amount to manifest disregard of the arbitration agreement's prohibition against punitive damages.

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BMW Bank of North America appeals the trial court’s confirmation of an arbitrator’s award of $150,000 plus fees and costs to Eddie Short concerning BMW Bank’s repossession of Short’s car. BMW Bank argues that the trial court erred when it denied the Bank’s motion to obtain a transcript of the arbitration proceedings and that the arbitrator exceeded the scope of his authority. We affirm. As the Supreme Court of Georgia has recently emphasized, a litigant seeking to vacate an arbitration award has an “extremely difficult” task. ABCO Builders v. Progressive Plumbing , 282 Ga. 308, 309 647 SE2d 574 2007. First, “an appellate court will not consider the sufficiency of the evidence underlying an arbitrator’s award. Greene v. Hundley , 266 Ga. 592 3 468 SE2d 350 1996.” Id. Moreover, an arbitrator’s award may be vacated only if it can be shown that the arbitrator manifestly disregarded the proper law applicable to the case before him. This disregard must be both evident and intentional. An arbitration board that incorrectly interprets the law has not manifestly disregarded it. It has simply made a legal mistake. To manifestly disregard the law, one must be conscious of the law and deliberately ignore it. Therefore, to prove that a manifest disregard of the law has occurred, a party wishing to have an arbitration award vacated must provide evidence of record that, not only was the correct law communicated to an arbitrator, but that the arbitrator intentionally and knowingly chose to ignore that law despite the fact that it was correct. Citation and punctuation omitted. Id.

So viewed, the record shows that Short filed an action for wrongful repossession against BMW Bank, BMW of Columbus, and JMIC Life Insurance Company. Defendants’ motions to compel arbitration were granted. The arbitration agreement provided that “the arbitrator will have no power to award punitive damages or other damages not measured by the prevailing party’s actual damages.”

BMW Bank of North Am. v. Short

The arbitrator's finding that the appellant's repossession plaintiff the appellee's vehicle was reckless and outrageous did not amount to manifest disregard of the arbitration agreement's prohibition against punitive damages.

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