Originally from:

Journal of American Arbitration (JAA) - Vol. 5, No. 1

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ARTICLES

McCauley v. Halliburton Energy Services,
Inc.: The Tenth Circuit Joins the Eleventh
and Seventh Circuits in Holding that Filing a
§ 16(a) Appeal under the FAA Divests District
Courts of Jurisdiction While the Appeal
Is Pending
By Nicole J. Jones

I. OVERVIEW
In December 2002, an off-duty Senior Electronics Technician for
Halliburton Energy Service, Inc. (Halliburton) “was injured while
applying foam insulation to . . . a bulk tank owned by Halliburton.”1 The
employee, Rodney McCauley, was terminated sometime thereafter.2 As
a result of his subsequent termination, McCauley filed a claim against
Halliburton, alleging negligence, fraud and deceit, intentional infliction
of emotional distress, and wrongful termination.3 Additionally, members
of McCauley’s family filed loss of consortium claims against
Halliburton.4
McCauley and Halliburton had executed an agreement to arbitrate
“all claims that fall within the scope of Halliburton’s Dispute Resolution
Program (DRP).”5 Both parties agreed that McCauley’s claims alleging
fraud and deceit, intentional infliction of emotional distress and wrongful
termination were arbitrable under Halliburton’s DRPs.6 The parties
disagreed, however, on the arbitrability of the negligence and loss of
consortium claims.7 McCauley argued that the negligence and loss of
consortium claims were not within the scope of the agreement because
the injuries that lead to the claims occurred while McCauley was
working as an independent contractor.8
Halliburton moved for the United States District Court for the
Western District of Oklahoma to arbitrate all claims brought by
McCauley.9 The district court partially granted Halliburton’s motion and
ordered all claims, except those relating to negligence and loss of
consortium, were to arbitration.10 The court agreed with McCauley and
found the claims were not subject to arbitration because they allegedly
arose out of work McCauley performed as an independent contractor.11
Following the partial denial of its motion to compel arbitration,
Halliburton filed an appeal pursuant to 9 U.S.C. § 16(a)(1)(C) of the