Opinion
No. 09-12548 Non-Argument Calendar.
December 3, 2009.
John P. Batson, Augusta, GA, for Plaintiff-Appellant.
Michael Jonas Thomerson, The Thomerson Law Firm, Savannah, GA, for Defendants-Cross-Claimant-Appellees.
Robert W. Hunter, III, Augusta, GA, for Defendant-Cross-Defendant-Appellee/Defendants-Appellees.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia. D.C. Docket No. 05-00101-CV-1-DHB-WLB.
Before TJOFLAT, EDMONDSON and HILL, Circuit Judges.
This appeal arises from the district court's order compelling arbitration and subsequently confirming the arbitrator's award of damages, fees and costs against plaintiff for violating her recruitment agreement with defendants. We have reviewed the parties' briefs and the record excerpts and conclude that the district court did not err in compelling arbitration or in affirming the arbitration award.
Plaintiff did not substantiate her denial of the arbitration contract with evidence sufficient to made the denial colorable. Chastain v. Robinson-Humphrey Co., 957 F.2d 851, 855 (11th Cir. 1992). Nor did she demonstrate that the subsequent award falls into those narrow circumstances where we are authorized to set it aside. See First Options of Chicago, Inc., v. Kaplan, 514 U.S. 938, 942, 115 S.Ct. 1920, 131 L.Ed.2d 985 (1995). She has shown neither fraud, partiality, misconduct nor malfeasance on the part of the arbitrator. Nor has she demonstrated that the award was arbitrary, violative of public policy or entered in manifest disregard of the law. See Scott v. Prudential Sec. Inc., 141 F.3d 1007, 1017 (11th Cir. 1998). In the absence of such showings, we are without authority to vacate the award.
Accordingly, the district court's Order affirming the arbitrator's award and judgment for defendants is hereby
AFFIRMED.