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HomeMy WebLinkAbout99-6179 civilLARUE T. HOFFMAN, III, Plaintiff VS. PYRAMID CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC., Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 99-6179 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION- LAW IN RE: DEFENDANT'S PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS BEFORE BAYLEY AND HESS, JJ,. ORDER AND NOW, this day of June, 2000, the preliminary objection of the defendant asserting a prior agreement to arbitrate is SUSTAINED and the complaint herein filed is DISMISSED. BY THE COURT, David J. Lenox, Esquire For the Plaintiff Hess, . · Diane M. Tokarsky, Esquire For the Defendant :rlm LARUE T. HOFFMAN, III, Plaintiff VS. PYRAMID CONSTRUCTION SERVICES, INC., Defendant IN THE COURT OF COMMON PLEAS OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA 99-6179 CIVIL CIVIL ACTION - LAW IN RE: DEFENDANT'S PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS BEFORE BAYLEY AND HESS, JJ.. OPINION AND ORDER The defendant in this case has filed a preliminary objection to the complaint seeking dismissal because of an agreement to arbitrate. According to the complaint, on June 16, 1998, the parties entered into a written contract for interior painting at a commercial building project on the Walnut Bottom Road in Shippensburg. The plaintiff contends that, through no fault of his own, he was prevented from completing the contract. He has brought an action for damages resulting from the breach. Of the twenty-two articles in the contract, one provides as follows' Article 18. LEGAL FORUM. Any dispute as to the operation, fulfillment of meaning of this Subcontract or the execution or breach thereof, may be resolved either by arbitration or by action at law, at the sole option of the Contractor. If the Contractor shall determine, in its sole discretion, to resolve the dispute between the parties by arbitration, such should be in accordance with the then prevailing rules, regulations and procedures for arbitration as established and administered by the American Arbitration Association and an award pursuant to such arbitration shall be final and binding on both parties. Any award rendered by arbitrators and any appeal therefrom shall be governed by the Pennsylvania Statutory Arbitration 99-6179 CIVIL Law, 42 Pa.C.S.A. Section 7301, Chapter A. If the Contractor shall determine, in its sole discretion, that an action at law shall be commenced, such action shall be brought in the Court of Common Pleas of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania. In either forum, Pennsylvania law shall be applied. Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 1028(a)(6) expressly provides that preliminary objections may be filed asserting a prior agreement for alternative dispute resolution. Our courts have made it clear that preliminary objections may be used to invoke the process of arbitration. See Goral v. Fox Ridge, Inc.., 453 Pa. Super. 316, 323,683 A.2d 931,934 (1996). Arbitration is a favored method of dispute resolution in this Commonwealth. See Waddell v. Shriber, 465 Pa. 20, 27, 348 A.2d 96, 99 (1975). The court must decide whether a dispute should be resolved through litigation or by arbitration. See id._.:. The dispute shall be resolved by arbitration if it falls within a contractual arbitration provision. See Wolf v. Baltimore, 250 Pa. Super. 230, 234, 378 A.2d 911,912 (1977); see also Waddell, 348 A.2d at 100. To determine this, the court must review the contractual language and decide whether the dispute falls within the scope of the arbitration provision. See Shadduck v. Kaclik, Inc., 713 A.2d 635, 635 (Pa. Super. 1998). In Shadduck v. Kaclik, Inc.., the Court held that all claims arising out of construction contract, or the breach thereof, were subject to a mandatory arbitration provision because of the provision's expansive terms and the absence of limiting language. See id. at 635. The provision in the contract required that all disputes be submitted to the American Arbitration Association for final, binding arbitration. See id. at 636. The Court held that the dispute should be submitted for compulsory arbitration consistent with the agreement of the parties. See id. at 639. 99-6179 CIVIL Similarly, in Shamokin Area School Authority v. Farfield Co., the contract between the parties provided that "all claims, disputes and other matters in question arising out of, or relating to, this Contract or the breach thereof.., shall be decided by arbitration in accordance with the Construction Industry Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association then obtaining unless the parties agree otherwise." See Shamokin Area School Authority v. Farfield Co., 308 Pa. Super. 271,273,454 A.2d 126, 127 (1982). The Court held that arbitration should be compelled. See id. at 129. In Waddell v. Shriber, the Court held that by subscribing to the New York Stock Exchange Constitution, the parties created a contractual obligation to resolve any disputes through arbitration. See Waddel[, 348 A.2d at 100. In this case, the contract provided for arbitration of any "dispute as to the operation, fulfillment or meaning of the Subcontract or the execution or breach thereof." It is difficult to imagine language more expansive that that. We have, therefore, no hesitation in reaching the conclusion that this dispute is subject to arbitration at the option of the defendant and will, accordingly, sustain the defendant's preliminary .objection. ORDER AND NOW, this /g-~ day of June, 2000, the preliminary objection of the defendant asserting a prior agreement to arbitrate is SUSTAINED and the complaint herein filed is DISMISSED. BY THE COURT, ess, J. 99-6179 CIVIL David J. Lenox, Esquire For the Plaintiff Diane M. Tokarsky, Esquire For the Defendant :rlm