Appellate Court Reject Arbitration Provision That Permitted One Party To Appoint The Arbitrator

The First Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a lower court’s order compelling a boxer to arbitrate his claims against the World Boxing Organization based on the agreement’s provisions permitting the WBO to select the arbitrator. In Trout v. Organizacion Mundial De Boxeo, Inc., the court held that, even though the agreement specified that the arbitrator must be “independent”, the court accepted the boxer’s contention that “the arbitration agreement is ‘unreasonable and unjust’ because the arbitrator-selection provision permits the WBO to act as both ‘party and judge.””