A Delaware Court of Chancery judge on Wednesday sent to an arbitrator Benchmark Capital Partners' lawsuit seeking to oust Travis Kalanick from Uber Technologies Inc.'s board, avoiding for now a public battle over the former CEO's acquisition of three new board seats.

Vice Chancellor Sam Glasscock III issued the “rough-and-ready” ruling following more than an hour of sometimes heated arguments in his Georgetown courtroom. Speaking from the bench, Glasscock said that a 2016 voting agreement between Kalanick and Uber's other directors contained a clear provision that prevented the judge from granting Benchmark's request to fast track the case in state court.

Glasscock did, however, retain jurisdiction over the case, pending the possibility of further challenges from Uber shareholders who were not a party to the contract.