{"componentChunkName":"component---src-templates-blog-post-ts","path":"/court-may-stay-proceedings-in-favour-of-arbitration-where-binding-arbitration-clause-covers-dispute-and-parties-have-given-notice-of-arbitration/","result":{"data":{"site":{"siteMetadata":{"title":"Clausehound Blog","author":"Joshua Koudys"}},"markdownRemark":{"id":"193e4149-8be7-5e2c-9203-2c07b01846a6","excerpt":"A court may stay proceedings brought against a contractor to repay wages paid by the counterparty to subcontractors in accordance with employment legislation…","html":"<p>A court may stay proceedings brought against a contractor to repay wages paid by the counterparty to subcontractors in accordance with <strong>employment legislation</strong>, even when the amount payable is not in dispute, if the payments were “inextricably interwoven with the dispute”. If both parties have given <strong>notice of arbitration</strong> (under separate contracts) it may tip the balance in favour of a stay of court proceedings.</p>\n<p>This article discusses a decision of the <em>Hong Kong High Court</em>, which in a departure from other precedents, granted a stay of proceedings in a claim for payments made to subcontractors under the Employment Ordinance. The parties were involved in two different projects. The parties agreed that the plaintiff would make direct payments to the employees of the defendant. The defendant served notice of arbitration under one agreement, and the plaintiff served notice of arbitration under the other. </p>\n<p>In the meantime, the plaintiff initiated a suit for repayment of the amounts paid under the Employment Ordinance. The court held that the issues were inextricably bound together, and the fact that both parties had served notice of arbitration, and had been in discussions about the selection of an arbitrator, militated against permitting the action to proceed.</p>\n<p>The author opined that this decision was not consistent with previous decisions, and that the court could have dealt with the wages issue separately from the issues subject to the arbitration.</p>\n<p><a href=\"http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=f30d9791-c8b8-42ed-878b-5039e8ba69d5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Read the article here.</a></p>\n<h3>Takeaway:</h3>\n<ul>\n<li>If litigation has commenced but both parties have also given notice of arbitration, it is likely a court will grant a stay of proceedings in favour of arbitration.</li>\n</ul>","frontmatter":{"title":"Court May Stay Proceedings in Favour of Arbitration Where Binding Arbitration Clause Covers Dispute and Parties Have Given Notice of Arbitration","date":"June 18, 2015","description":"A court may stay proceedings brought against a contractor to repay wages paid by the counterparty to subcontractors in accordance with employment legislation, even when the amount payable is not in dispute, if the payments were inextricably interwoven with the dispute.","author":{"id":"rajah@cobaltcounsel.com","first":"Rajah","last":"Lehal","bio":"Rajah Lehal is Founder and CEO of Clausehound.com.  Rajah is a legal technologist and technology lawyer who is, together with the Clausehound team, capturing and sharing lawyer expertise, building deal negotiation libraries, teaching negotiation in classrooms, and automating negotiation with software.","image":{"childImageSharp":{"fluid":{"base64":"data:image/jpeg;base64,/9j/2wBDABALDA4MChAODQ4SERATGCgaGBYWGDEjJR0oOjM9PDkzODdASFxOQERXRTc4UG1RV19iZ2hnPk1xeXBkeFxlZ2P/2wBDARESEhgVGC8aGi9jQjhCY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2NjY2P/wgARCAAUABQDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAGAABAAMBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIDBQT/xAAWAQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgP/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAAboK870hU4HaFoP/xAAbEAEBAQACAwAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMABBEhMv/aAAgBAQABBQLZ0DJXzzsfOHtcqtrVlGqp/8QAFBEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIP/aAAgBAwEBPwEf/8QAFREBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASD/2gAIAQIBAT8BY//EAB0QAAICAQUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEhABEQAhIxQVH/2gAIAQEABj8CXJgvXuvA9nWLJcsJAqOf/8QAGxAAAgMBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAREAIUFREDH/2gAIAQEAAT8hEPkifIrIYPgAmwaHZUKpzPAcw4PIYWoDkjn/2gAMAwEAAgADAAAAEDvXff/EABYRAQEBAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEQEf/aAAgBAwEBPxADGE//xAAWEQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARARD/2gAIAQIBAT8QTDLn/8QAHRABAQEBAAIDAQAAAAAAAAAAAREAITFxQVFhof/aAAgBAQABPxBERBosSrNWnl4U/SabyrrjY+eesU1Qqo7Xg1wnR1H+PrIYPUA6nfZ3SAwyyXf/2Q==","aspectRatio":1,"src":"/static/d7bbad08c257f3987a4a5710553e9e17/bdd4d/Rajah.jpg","srcSet":"/static/d7bbad08c257f3987a4a5710553e9e17/2b9ee/Rajah.jpg 80w,\n/static/d7bbad08c257f3987a4a5710553e9e17/e5d64/Rajah.jpg 160w,\n/static/d7bbad08c257f3987a4a5710553e9e17/bdd4d/Rajah.jpg 320w,\n/static/d7bbad08c257f3987a4a5710553e9e17/6e63d/Rajah.jpg 400w","sizes":"(max-width: 320px) 100vw, 320px"}}}},"tags":["Dispute Resolution","Notice of Arbitration","Dispute Resolution","Rajah"]}}},"pageContext":{"slug":"/court-may-stay-proceedings-in-favour-of-arbitration-where-binding-arbitration-clause-covers-dispute-and-parties-have-given-notice-of-arbitration/","previous":{"fields":{"slug":"/what-are-the-copyright-implications-of-pinterest/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"What are the Copyright Implications of Pinterest?","tags":["Representations and Warranties","Website Terms of Use","Commercial Activities","Rajah"],"author":{"id":"rajah@cobaltcounsel.com","first":"Rajah","last":"Lehal"}}},"next":{"fields":{"slug":"/blog-bite-how-the-competition-bureau-will-determine-whether-a-conduct-involving-intellectual-property-raises-an-issue-under-the-competition-act/"},"frontmatter":{"title":"Blog Bite: In what case would aggressive patent management trigger the scrutiny of the Competition Bureau?","tags":["Intellectual Property","Technology","Business","Acquisition","Ownership of Intellectual Property","Definition of Intellectual Property","Intellectual Property Transfer","Small Business Corner","IP Transfer","Blog Bites","Mondaq","Canada (General)"],"author":{"id":"alina@clausehound.com","first":"Alina","last":null}}}}}}