Error to Exclude Petitioner from Arbitration Proceeding

Although the First Department determined the error was harmless, the court noted that petitioner should not have been excluded from an arbitration proceedings concerning the termination of her employment:

The arbitrator exceeded the scope of his authority by excluding petitioner from certain portions of the arbitration proceedings, over her objection, in violation of Rule 23 of the American Arbitration Association’s Commercial Arbitration Rules  (see CPLR 7511[b][iii]…).

The exclusion of petitioner from approximately 5% of the proceedings was, however, harmless error, since the result would have been the same had she been present. Petitioner’s case rested on her argument that respondents’ reasons for terminating her were merely a pretext to avoid paying her what she believed would be very high commissions. Since the evidence presented during petitioner’s absences from the proceedings had no bearing on that issue, there is no basis for vacating the arbitrator’s finding that petitioner was fired for her repeated, and severe, violations of the conflict of interest provisions of her contract, as well as for her threats against her employer… . Caruso v Viridian Network, LLC, 2013 NY Slip Op 05780, 1st Dept 9-10-13