Opinion

Bernhardt v. Polygraphic Co. of America, Inc.

  • 350 U.S. 198
  • 76 S. Ct. 273
  • 100 L. Ed. 2d 199
  • 100 L. Ed. 199
  • 1956 U.S. LEXIS 1487
Court
Supreme Court of the United States
Filed
Jan 16, 1956
Status
Published
Author
Burton
On the bench
Burton, Douglas, Frankfurter, Harlan
Cited by
694 cases
Authority
More cited than 24.0%

holding that a “resultant discrimination” would result if parties suing on a state court cause of action in federal court were required to arbitrate a claim that would not be so required if the state cause of action were litigated in state court.

How later courts described this case

  • holding that a “resultant discrimination” would result if parties suing on a state court cause of action in federal court were required to arbitrate a claim that would not be so required if the state cause of action were litigated in state court.
  • affirming district court’s use of forty-five-year-old state supreme court precedent when “there appear[ed] to be no 8 confusion in [state] decisions, no developing line of authorities that casts a shadow over the established ones, no dicta, doubts or ambiguities in the opinions of [state] judges on the question, [and] no legislative development that promises to undermine the judicial rule”
  • affirming district court’s use of forty-five-year-old state supreme court precedent when “there appeared] to be no confusion in [state] decisions, no developing line of authorities that casts a shadow over the established ones, no dicta, doubts or ambiguities in the opinions of [state] judges on the question, [and] no legislative development that promises to undermine the judicial rule”
  • describing commercial arbitration proceedings in 1956 and concluding that “[a]rbitrators do not have the benefit of judicial instruction on the law; they need not give their reasons for their results; the record of their proceedings is not as complete as it is in a court trial; and judicial review of an award is more limited than judicial review of a trial”

Written by the judges who cited it.

The opinion

Mr. Justice Burton,

dissenting.

Whether or not § 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act is applicable to this contract, the judgment of the Court of Appeals should be affirmed.

Assuming the validity of the arbitration clause in the New York contract here involved, I regard the procedure *213 which it prescribes as a permissible “form of trial.” See Murray Oil Products Co. v. Mitsui & Co., 146 F. 2d 381 . Accordingly, the United States District Court for the District of Vermont may stay its own proceedings to await completion of the arbitration proceedings, although a state court of Vermont would not do likewise. I do not interpret Erie R. Co. v. Tompkins, 304 U. S. 64 , or Guaranty Trust Co. v. York, 326 U. S. 99 , as requiring the contrary.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

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