9th Cir. Upholds Vacatur of Arbitration Award on Grounds of Evident Partiality

[Editor's note: Rachel J. Schwartz of Carlton Fields in New York represents property and casualty insurance industry clients in litigation, and counsels them on varied coverage matters, including coverage disputes arising under Commercial General Liability and Directors & Officer policies.]

City Beverages LLC, doing business as Olympic Eagle Distributing, and Monster Energy Co. entered into an agreement under which Monster had exclusive distribution rights for its products in a certain territory for 20 years.

Monster exercised its contractual right to terminate the agreement and, in response, Olympic invoked Washington’s Franchise Investment Protection Act, which prohibits termination of a franchise …