Landis Construction Co. v. Health Education Authority
Also decided on this docket: La. Ct. App. 1st Cir., May 29, 1972 264 So. 2d 281; La. Ct. App. 1st Cir., December 19, 1957 99 So. 2d 548; La., January 15, 1883 35 La. Ann. 115
Landis Construction Co. v. Health Education Authority, 359 So. 2d 1045 (La. Ct. App. 1st Cir. 1978).
The holding in the court’s own words
On this appeal from a judgment ordering the public agency to arbitrate, we hold that the contractual stipulation for arbitration was not authorized by either party to the contract and is therefore unenforceable.
Quoted verbatim from the opinion — no paraphrase, nothing generated. Not yet human-reviewed. How we find the holding.
Cited by
- Huber, Hunt & Nichols, Inc. v. State 367 So. 2d 1293 La. Ct. App. 4th Cir. 1979
- Landis Construction Co. v. Health Education Authority 367 So. 2d 330 La. 1979
- STANDARD CO., ETC. v. Elliott Const. Co., Inc. 363 So. 2d 671 La. 1978
- Landis Construction Co. v. Health Education Authority of Louisiana 362 So. 2d 784 La. 1978
Opinion text
REDMANN, Judge. A construction contract between a business corporation and a governmental agency contained a stipulation for arbitration of disputes. Neither the corporation’s nor the public agency’s resolution authorizing the contract included express authority to stipulate for arbitration. On this appeal from a judgment ordering the public agency to arbitrate, we hold that the contractual stipulation for arbitration was not authorized by either party to the contract and is therefore unenforceable. “[T]he power [of attorney] must be express . . . [to] refer a matter to arbi *1046 tration.” La.C.C. 2997. Even the power to compromise “does not include that of submitting or referring to arbitrators.” C.C. 2998. The trial judge reasoned that apparent authority or ratification (by having arbitrated an earlier dispute) should bind both parties. We disagree. The Civil Code does not permit implied authority to bind to arbitration. Neither pre-contract actions nor a post-contract submission of one dispute constitutes “express” authority to manda-taries to bind either the corporation or the public agency to future arbitration of disputes. Reversed at plaintiff’s cost.