Stok & Associates v. Citibank

Issue: Under the Federal Arbitration Act, should a party be required to demonstrate prejudice after the opposing party waived its contractual right to arbitrate by participating in litigation, in order for such waiver to be binding and irrevocable?

Plain English Issue: Under the Federal Arbitration Act, federal courts may not litigate claims that the parties have agreed to arbitrate. However, a party can waive its right to enforce the arbitration agreement proceeding with litigation and not invoking the arbitration clause as a defense. Can this kind of waiver can be found when a defendant initially proceeds to litigate a case in court, but then later tries to invoke the arbitration agreement, if the delay in asking for arbitration did not do any harm to the plaintiff.

Judgment: Dismissed under Rule 46. on June 2, 2011.