Arbitration Agreement In Philippine Seaman's Contract Enforced
RIZALYN BAUTISTA, Individually and as PersonalRepresentative of the Estate of Mari-John Bautista, and all claiming by andthrough her, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE,LTD., Defendants-Appellees. PAUL PERALTA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STARCRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. RAYMOND LOVINO,Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD.,Defendants-Appellees. RONALDO MARCELINO, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STARCRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. ROLANDO TEJERO,Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD.,Defendants-Appellees. ABDI COMEDIA, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STAR CRUISES,NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. CRISTINA L. VALENZUELA,Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Candido S.Valenzuela, Jr. and all those claiming through her, Plaintiff-Appellant, versusSTAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. MARILEN S.BERNAL, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Ramil G.Bernal, and all those claiming by and through her Plaintiff-Appellant, versusSTAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. WILLY I.VILLANUEVA, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of ReneVillanueva, and all those claiming through him, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus STARCRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees. MARIA GARCIA L.ROSAL, Individually and as Personal Representative of the Estate of Ricardo B.Rosal, III, and all those claiming by and through her, Plaintiff-Appellant,versus STAR CRUISES, NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE, LTD., Defendants-Appellees.
No. 03-15884
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE ELEVENTH CIRCUIT
396 F.3d 1289; 2005 U.S. App. LEXIS 889; 2005 AMC 372; 18Fla. L. Weekly Fed. C 177
January 18, 2005, Decided
January 18, 2005, Filed
PROCEDURAL POSTURE: Appellants, crewmembers of a foreign vessel or their representatives (crewmembers), sued appellee vessel owners in state court, seeking recovery for injury or death caused by a boiler explosion on the vessel in a United States port. The action was removed to federal court, and the crewmembers appealed the order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida which compelled arbitration of the dispute.
OVERVIEW: The owners contended that the arbitration clause in the crewmembers' employment contracts required arbitration under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (Convention), opened for signing June 10, 1958, 21 U.S.T. 2517, 330 U.N.T.S. 3. The crewmembers argued that arbitration was not required under the seaman employment contract exemption of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA), 9 U.S.C.S. ยง 1 et seq., and that the arbitration clause was otherwise unenforceable. The appellate court first held that, since the Convention broadly defined the commercial legal relationships subject to the Convention, the FAA's narrow seaman exemption conflicted with such definition and thus did not apply to preclude arbitration under the Convention. Further, despite assertions that the crewmembers had insufficient time to review the contract terms, the crewmembers executed the contracts containing the arbitration clause, and there was no requirement that the owners prove the crewmembers knowingly agreed to arbitration. Also, there was no basis for finding that the arbitration provision was null and void as unconscionable, or could not otherwise be performed.
OUTCOME: The order compelling arbitration was affirmed.
