Logan & Kanawha Coal Co., LLC v. Detherage Coal Sales, LLC
United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
514 F. App’x 365 (2013)
- Written by David Bloom, JD
Facts
Logan & Kanawha Coal Co., LLC (L&K) (plaintiff) faxed Detherage Coal Sales, LLC (DCS) (defendant) a proposed order to purchase coal. L&K’s fax stated that the terms and conditions of certain additional pages would become part of the contract, but L&K did not include those pages with the fax. DCS sent back a signed counterproposal with a revised quantity term. L&K agreed to the revision and returned the fully executed contract to DCS. DCS never told L&K that the additional pages were omitted from the fax. DCS’s owner, Bill Detherage, previously did business with L&K through other companies that Detherage owned and had received L&K’s terms and conditions through that prior course of dealing. Those terms and conditions contained an arbitration clause. After DCS failed to deliver the coal, L&K sent DCS a letter demanding DCS’s performance under the contract along with a copy of L&K’s terms and conditions. DCS did not object to the terms and conditions. After DCS failed to deliver the promised coal, L&K demanded arbitration and claimed that DCS breached the contract. DCS designated an arbitrator but reserved its right to object to the arbitration. DCS did not appear at the arbitration hearing and moved to dismiss on the grounds that DCS never agreed to arbitration. The arbitration panel ruled against DCS and issued an award in favor of L&K. L&K motioned the court to confirm the arbitration award. DCS moved to vacate the award. The court denied L&K’s motion and granted DCS’s motion. L&K appealed.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Diaz, J.)
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