The Missouri Supreme Court analyzed delegation clauses in State
ex rel. Newberry v. Jackson, 2019 WL 2181859 (May 21, 2019). Employees bringing a workplace
discrimination claim challenged the delegation provision in an arbitration
agreement contained in an employment contract. The employment contact at issue here incorporated
the AAA rules, which delegate decisions about enforceability to the arbitrator. The US Supreme Court's decision in
Rent-A-Center held that delegation clauses are severable from arbitration clauses much as Prima Paint long ago held that an arbitration agreement is a
separate component of a contract and, therefore, to avoid a motion to compel a
party needs to challenge the arbitration agreement and not just contract as a
whole. The Missouri Supreme Court says that a delegation clause in an
arbitration agreement is similar and must be specifically challenged to avoid
delegation to the arbitrator. The Court also found that no such specific
challenge was made in this case.
Arbitration
Nation goes into more depth on the decision and the issue of
separability/delegation as a whole.
