Court, Not Arbitrator, Must Decide Successor-In-Interest Issue, N.Y. Federal Judge Rules

NEW YORK — The question of whether a non-signatory is a successor-in-interest to a bankrupt company is for the court, not an arbitrator, to decide because there is no “clear and unmistakable” reference in the arbitration agreement that the non-signatory is subject to the agreement, a New York federal judge has ruled.

Judge Robert Sweet of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York explained that the agreement’s delegation clause does not require arbitration of the issue because the non-signatory never agreed to arbitration.

In 1984, In 1984, Walter Schuster and Charles Nibley formed a stucco plastering …