Charles Reno White v. U.S. Center for SafeSport

Background

Following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct, Charles Reno White and the U.S. Center for SafeSport completed arbitration. On May 5, 2022, Arbitrator Caroline Antonacci upheld SafeSport’s sanction making White permanently banned from sport, also described as lifetime ineligibility to participate in sport.

White sought to vacate, or set aside, the arbitration decision under the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the California Arbitration Act (CAA). He first filed a federal petition on August 2, 2022, 89 days after the arbitration decision. On September 18, 2024, Judge James Donato dismissed that case for lack of subject-matter jurisdiction and stated that the dismissal was without prejudice to a possible state-court proceeding. White then filed a state-court petition on October 23, 2024, and SafeSport removed the case to federal court.

Arbitration review and waiver

The FAA requires a motion to vacate an arbitration award to be served within three months after the award is filed or delivered. The court explained that the FAA permits only narrow grounds for vacating an award, such as fraud, arbitrator misconduct, or the arbitrator exceeding the arbitrator’s authority.

The court also considered a SafeSport Code provision stating that the arbitration decision was final and binding and that the parties waived, to the fullest extent permitted by law, any right to challenge it in court. The court held that the FAA does not permit parties to waive the FAA’s grounds for judicial review. But it held that the CAA does permit a clear and express waiver, and found that White had waived his right to challenge the arbitration award under the CAA. The court therefore considered his motion under the FAA.

Timeliness and equitable tolling

The court found White’s FAA challenge untimely. It calculated that 89 days elapsed before White filed his first federal petition and another 35 days elapsed after that case was dismissed before he filed the state-court petition. Even tolling, or pausing the deadline, while the first federal case was pending, 124 days had elapsed after the May 5, 2022 award. That exceeded the FAA’s strict three-month deadline.

The court held that federal standards governed White’s request for equitable tolling. Under those standards, a party must show that he pursued his rights diligently and that an extraordinary circumstance beyond his control prevented timely filing. The court found that White did not explain his delay and did not meet either requirement. It denied his request to extend the deadline beyond the time his earlier federal case was pending.

The court also rejected White’s argument that a federal supplemental-jurisdiction law gave him an additional 30-day filing period after the earlier case was dismissed. The court explained that the earlier case included no state-law claims and therefore did not qualify for that provision.

Because the petition was untimely, the court did not decide White’s remaining arguments, including whether the arbitrator exceeded her authority by failing to issue a reasoned award.

Sealing requests

The court separately ruled on motions to file documents under seal. It applied the demanding “compelling reasons” standard because the motion to vacate was closely related to the merits of the case.

White’s motion for leave to file under seal at Docket No. 22 was granted in part and denied in part. The court denied sealing for portions of White’s motion that had already been publicly disclosed, while allowing certain portions of SafeSport’s decision and investigation report to remain sealed, except for material already quoted publicly. As to the arbitration award and White’s pre-hearing materials, the court granted in part and denied in part, allowing previously undisclosed portions to be sealed but requiring that previously public material remain unsealed. The court denied the request concerning White’s earlier motion to vacate because it had already been publicly available.

White’s motion at Docket No. 27 was granted. SafeSport’s motion at Docket No. 26 was also granted. The court ordered White to refile his materials within seven days in accordance with the sealing rulings and required his lead counsel to submit a sworn declaration confirming personal review of the refilled documents.

Disposition

Judge Donna M. Ryu denied White’s petition to vacate the arbitration decision as untimely and directed the Clerk of Court to close the case. The court did not add a separate prejudice designation to that denial.