Arbitration, Appealability, Jurisdiction: Order Denying Petition To Vacate Award Is Appealable As Order Dismissing Petition -- But The Trial Court Properly Dismissed Petition To Vacate "Partial Interim Award" For Lack Of Jurisdiction

"Partial Final Award" Did Not Constitute An Award Immediately Reviewable By Superior Court.

    Maplebear, Inc. v. Donna Busick, No. A151677 (1/2  8/21/18) affirms the trial court's order dismissing Maplebear's (Instacart's) petition to vacate an award, which award was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction. Instacart is a same-day grocery delivery service, and the dispute arose when an employee, Busick, filed a class action arbitration demand with JAMS, alleging Instacart violated California law by misclassifying employees as independent contractors.

    The arbitrator issued a "partial final award" determining that the parties' arbitration agreement permitted Busick to move for class certification. Instacart petitioned to vacate the award. The trial court denied the petition to vacate, and Instacart appealed the denial of the petition to vacate.

    The opinion, which is a great refresher of the procedural steps involved when appealing an arbitrator's order, is interesting for a number of reasons.

    First, it treats the order denying the petition to vacate as an order dismissing the petition to vacate. This is important, because the relevant statute allows an aggrieved party to appeal from an order "dismissing a petition to confirm, correct or vacate an award." A denial is not the same as a dismissal -- except that by case law, denials may sometimes be treated as dismissals, making them appealable.

    Second, the Court concludes that the ruling in Mid-Wilshire Associates v. O'Leary, 7 Cal. App. 4th 1450 (1992), where the Court of Appeal "declined to construe a trial court order 'denying' a petition to vacate as a dismissal" does not survive Law Offices of David S. Karton v. Segreto, 176 Cal.App.4th 1 (2009) and  and Cinel v. Christopher, 203 Cal.App.4th 759 (2012).

    Third, the Court holds that the trial court properly dismissed Instacart's petition to vacate the "partial final award" because the trial court lacked jurisdiction over a partial award that did not determine "all the questions submitted to the arbitrators the decision of which is necessary in order to determine the controversy." Cal. Code Civ. Proc., section 1283.4. 

    Fourth, the Court rejected Instacart's argument that because the parties agreed that the arbitrator had no "power or authority to commit errors of law or legal reasoning", the trial court could immediately review the partial final award allowing Busick to move for class certification.