AAA Immunity

Len Rao filed suit against his former employer, David Weekley Homes. Weekley moved to abate the lawsuit and initiated an arbitration proceeding with the AAA. The trial court denied the motion to compel arbitration, and the Court of Appeals — after first granting an emergency motion to stay the proceedings — ultimately affirmed the denial of arbitration. After the case moved back to the trial court, however, Rao added new claims against the AAA, which responded with a plea to the jurisdiction based on the doctrine of arbitral immunity. The trial court granted the plea, and the Court of Appeals affirmed. Arbitral immunity, the Court held, extends not only to arbitrators themselves, but also to the association that administers their proceedings.

Rao v. Am. Arbitration Ass’n., No. 05-13-00462-CV