A federal court in the Southern District of New York recently confirmed an arbitration award in an employment dispute between Gould Paper Corp. and its former employee David Berkowitz. On July 19, 2019, Berkowitz initiated arbitration proceedings against Gould under JAMS rules. Berkowitz generally alleged age discrimination, and Gould asserted counterclaims for conversion and unjust enrichment. The arbitrator issued a final award dated February 18, 2021, and an amended award dated March 17, 2021, finding for Berkowitz on his age discrimination claim and for Gould on its unjust enrichment counterclaim. In the award, the arbitrator ordered Gould to pay a net amount to Berkowitz of $45,533.49 and rejected all other relief sought by the parties, including fees, costs, liquidated damages, and emotional distress damages.
On August 4, 2021, Berkowitz filed a petition in federal court seeking to confirm the award of compensatory damages and to vacate and/or modify the award so as to grant an additional award of attorneys’ fees and costs, liquidated damages, and emotional distress damages. As a threshold issue, the court considered whether Berkowitz’s petition to modify the award was timely filed. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, the statutory period during which a motion to vacate or modify may be filed is three months after the arbitration award is “filed or delivered.” According to the court, neither party disputed whether the three-month limitation applied, but they...
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