Belnap v. Iasis Healthcare

Under an agreement between the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center (hospital) (defendant) and Dr. LeGrand Belnap (plaintiff), Belnap was an independent contractor for the hospital. The agreement provided that any disputes would be settled by informal resolution. If a dispute could not be resolved informally, mediation was required. Finally, if mediation failed, the parties were required to submit the matter to arbitration. The agreement provided that the arbitration would be governed by the rules of the JAMS organization, a dispute-resolution service, or a similar service agreeable to the parties’ attorneys. Under the JAMS organization’s rules in effect at the time of the agreement, arbitrators decided whether an agreement was arbitrable. After the parties entered the agreement, the hospital’s executive committee suspended Belnap’s medical privileges due to sexual-harassment allegations. Another committee reversed that decision after a hearing, finding that it was not supported by the evidence. Although the hospital reversed the earlier suspension, it had notified third parties of the suspension but failed to notify them that the suspension was retracted. Belnap then sued the hospital. The hospital moved to compel arbitration of the claims, which the district court granted in part and denied in part. The hospital appealed the district court’s order to the extent that the court decided the question of arbitrability, which the hospital claimed had to be decided by an arbitrator. Belnap argued that the JAMS rules had not been incorporated into the agreement to arbitrate and cited caselaw holding that other parties had failed to incorporate similar rules into similar agreements.