Uninsured Motorist Arbitrator Did Not Exceed His Authority by Placing Monetary Value on Claimant's Injuries in Excess of Policy Limit

UM – SERIOUS INJURY – CPLR 7511 PROCEEDING TO VACATE ARBITRATION AWARD – GROUNDS TO VACATE AWARD
Safeco Prop. & Cas. Ins. Cos. v. Dye
(Sup. Ct., Queens Co., decided 11/18/2009)

On August 27, 2006, a vehicle owned and operated by Safeco's insured, Roshaun Dye, was struck by a hit-and-run motor vehicle. By demand dated December 3, 2007, Dye sought arbitration of his claim for uninsured motorist (UM) benefits from Safeco on the basis that the accident involved a hit-and-run vehicle.

The arbitration was held on April 20, 2009. Upon completion of the arbitration of this matter, the arbitrator, in his award dated May 15, 2009 determined that "the compensatory value of the injuries sustained by the Claimant RD to be $100,000.00. However, I also find that the Claimant RD was 75% comparatively negligent in causing this accident and therefore his award is reduced and he is entitled to $25,000.00".

Safeco commenced this special proceeding pursuant to CPLR § 7511 to vacate the arbitration award, contending that: (1) the arbitrator exceeded his authority by awarding benefits in excess of applicable policy limits; (2) there was no evidence in the record to support that the claimant sustained a serious injury; and (3) the arbitrator's exclusion of pertinent evidence constituted misconduct.

In denying Safeco's petition and confirming the award, Queens County Supreme Court Justice Jaime Rios noted that judicial review of compulsory arbitration, such as UM arbitration, is more limited than for voluntary arbitration, and that to be upheld, the arbitrator's award must only have evidentiary support and not be arbitrary and capricious.  Justice Rios then held:

An arbitrator is not required to justify his award, it must merely be evident that there exists a rational basis for it upon a reading of the record (see Block v St. Paul Fire & Marine Ins. Co., 137 AD2d 475 [1988]; Dahn v Luchs, 92 AD2d 537 [1983]).

Here, the arbitrator's decision was based upon Dye's testimony, police report, photos of the accident scene and Dye's vehicle, MRI reports of Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Rothpearl; hospital and medical records submitted by Dye and Safeco; a copy of Safeco's insurance policy, and examination under oath of Dye. The MRI report of the right knee by Dr. Shapiro revealed "abnormal signal in the posterior horn of the medial meniscus without articular extension" and "joint effusion"; the MRI of the right knee by Dr. Rothpearl revealed "medial, supra patellar plicai", "thickening and increased signal associated with the medial collateral ligament, consistent with a low-grade partial tear", "lateral patellar tilt", "suboptimal visualization of the anterior cruciate ligament. A tear of this ligament cannot be excluded and clinical correlation is recommended", and the MRI report of the lumbar spine revealed "right foraminal herniation at L5-S1. According to the records of Lutheran Medical Center, on November 29, 2007, Dye underwent arthroscopic surgery to the right knee, which revealed "medial meniscal tear of the medial and lateral side", "synovitis of the medial compartment" and "cartilage abrasion on the medial femoral condyle".

Judicial review of an arbitrator's award is very limited (see Pearlman v Pearlman, 169 AD2d 825 [1990]) and the fact findings of the arbitrator may not be second guessed by a reviewing court (see Liberty Mut. Ins. Co. v Sedgewick of New York, 2007 NY Slip Op 6882). The question of whether a claimant has sustained a serious injury is a matter within the province of the arbitrator not the courts (see Aetna Cas. & Sur. Co. v Cochrane, 64 NY2d 796 [1985]). Based upon the present record, the arbitrator's award has ample evidentiary support and is thus, rationally based. Additionally, even if the arbitrator failed to consider certain evidence, vacatur of the award would not be warranted (see American Express Prop. & Cas. Co. v Vinci, 63 AD3d 1055 [20009]).

Moreover, while an arbitration award may be vacated upon the ground that the arbitrator exceeded his authority by making an award in excess of the policy limits, here, the arbitrator made an award within the policy limits. 

The decision does not reveal what the UM policy limit was, but presumably it was at least $25,000.  As reduced by the claimant's percentage of comparative negligence or culpable conduct, the arbitration award did not exceed the policy's UM coverage limit.