Originally from:

Journal of American Arbitration (JAA) - Vol. 2, No. 2

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ARTICLES

Schoch v. info USA, Inc.: The Eighth Circuit
Recognizes Contractual Expansion of Judicial
Review in Arbitration Agreements
By David A. Ruben
 

I. OVERVIEW
Info USA, Inc. (info USA) purchased the business of Claude Schoch
(Schoch) for cash and stock in September 1996.1 The parties also
entered into a three-year employment contract that paid Schoch an
annual salary of $225,000 and granted him the option to purchase 90,000
shares of info USA stock each August over the course of the next four
years.2 Schoch’s three-year employment contract expired in September
of 1999, after which Schoch continued to work for info USA without
pay.3 Info USA prevented Schoch from exercising his options in late
1999 and Schoch sued info USA for breach of contract, reformation, and
unjust enrichment.4 The parties agreed to enter into arbitration which
resulted in the arbitrator awarding damages to Schoch in the amount of
$1,632,000 for info USA’s failure to allow Schoch to exercise the
options.5
Schoch filed a motion with the United States District Court for the
District of Nebraska to confirm the award and info USA filed a motion to