Originally from the AAA Yearbook on Arbitration and the Law - 30th Edition

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2.01 Scope of the Arbitration Agreement

United States ex rel. Welch v. My Left Foot Children’s Therapy, LLC, 871 F.3d 791 (9th Cir. 2017)

A False Claims Act claim was not arbitrable because it did not arise out of plaintiff’s employment, and the government was a non-signatory to the agreement. 

The False Claims Act (FCA) permits a private party to bring a civil action against an entity that fraudulently asked for payment from a U.S. government employee. The claimant here was employed by the firm making the alleged fraudulent claim.  The employer sought arbitration under their contract.  The court ruled that the claim was outside of the scope of the arbitration provision, which applied only to employment-related claims.

Mooneyham v. BRSI, LLC, 682 F. App’x 655 (10th Cir. 2017)

A broad arbitration clause in one of several agreements in a single transaction is sufficient to send the dispute to arbitration.

A transaction for the purchase of a used car consisted of multiple agreements, only one of which included a broad arbitration clause. The original agreement explicitly stated that any dispute “related to the purchase/transaction” was subject to binding arbitration. Multiple agreements made after the original agreement expressly incorporated the original agreement. Therefore, any agreement made during the transaction was inexplicably intertwined with the original agreement and subject to arbitration.