International Bancshares Corp., d/b/a International Bank of Commerce, d/b/a IBC Bank v. Ochoa

Filing 3

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER denying International Bancshares Corporation's 2 Motion to Stay Arbitration, or in the Alternative, Grant Expedited Relief. (Signed by Judge George P. Kazen) Parties notified. (dmorales, 5)

O

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
LAREDO DIVISION
INTERNATIONAL BANCSHARES
CORPORATION d/b/a INTERNATIONAL
BANK OF COMMERCE d/b/a IBC BANK

§
§
§
§
v.
§
§
PAOLA OCHOA, On Behalf of
§
Herself and All Others Similarly §
Situated
§

CIV. NO. 5:15-cv-172

MEMORANDUM AND ORDER
Pending

before

Corporation’s

(IBC)

the

Court

“Motion

to

is

International

Stay

Arbitration,

Bancshares
or

in

the

Alternative, Grant Expedited Relief” filed on August 24, 2015.
(Dkt. 2.)

For reasons stated below, this Motion will be denied.
Background

On

June

8,

2015,

an

arbitrator

granted

Defendant

Paola

Ochoa an award of Conditional Certification.

The arbitrator

ordered

of

IBC

to

produce

contact

information

all

sales

associates who may wish to opt into the arbitration by August
24, 2015.

On August 21st, 2015, IBC filed a Motion to Vacate

the arbitrator’s award of Conditional Certification.

IBC then

filed the pending Motion to Stay the arbitration proceedings
until this Court rules on IBC’s Motion to Vacate.

Motion to Stay
Generally,

“procedural

questions

which

grow

out

of

the

dispute and bear on its final disposition are presumptively not
for the judge, but for an arbitrator, to decide.”

Howsam v.

Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc., 123 S. Ct. 588, 592 (2002) (internal
quotations omitted).

The Federal Arbitration Act contains no

provision allowing a court to stay an ongoing arbitration.

Tai

Ping Ins. Co., Ltd. v. M/V Warschau, 731 F.2d 1141, 1144 (5th
Cir. 1984).

“[O]nly the most exceptional circumstances will

justify any action . . . that serves to impede arbitration of an
arbitrable dispute.

Dahiya v. Talmidge Intern., Ltd., 371 F.3d

207, 216 (5th Cir. 2004) (quoting Tai Ping, 731 F.2d at 1146).
These

exceptional

arbitrable

at

circumstances

all.

PoolRe

include

Ins.

when

Corp.

a

v.

claim

is

not

Organizational

Strategies, Inc., 2013 WL 3929077, at *9 (S.D. Tex. July 29,
2013)(Miller, J.)(citing Tai Ping, 731 F.2d at 1147).
In this case, IBC does not argue that the claim against it
is not arbitrable.

Rather, IBC argues that not staying the

arbitration would force IBC to “engage in costly discovery and a
class arbitration to which it did not consent.”

This harm is

too attenuated to be considered an “exceptional circumstance”
allowing for a stay.
occur

is

that

it

will

The only specific harm IBC claims will
have

to

gather

and

disclose

contact

information for a large number of employees by August 24, 2015.
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This deadline has passed, and it is unclear whether IBC has even
complied.

If IBC wishes to change this deadline or reduce the

burden of discovery in some way, it should move the arbitrator
to do so.

The same goes for staying the arbitration.

The

arbitrator, not this Court, controls the arbitration proceeding.
Procedural

issues

arbitrator’s

such

decision

as

granting

as

part

proceedings before him.

of

a

stay
his

are

normally

control

the

over

the

Therefore, the Court will not stay the

arbitration.
Motion to Grant Expedited Relief
IBC alternatively asks the Court to expedite the time Ochoa
has to respond to its Motion to Vacate.
arbitration award is a serious motion.

A motion to vacate an
The relationship between

arbitration proceedings and the courts has been long debated,
and any attempt to involve a court in an arbitration proceeding
necessarily

requires

the

interpretation

vast array of complex case law.

and

application

of

a

Yet IBC asks the Court to rush

Ochoa’s response, as if the response is not that important.

It

is in the best interest of both parties, as well as the Court,
for Ochoa to have adequate time to file a reasoned, thorough
response to IBC’s motion.

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CONCLUSION
Accordingly, IBC’s “Motion to Stay Arbitration, or in the
Alternative, Grant Expedited Relief” is DENIED.
DONE at Laredo, this 28th day of August, 2015.

___________________________________
George P. Kazen
Senior United States District Judge

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