Nortek Inc. v. ITT LLC

Background

Nortek Inc. brought this action against ITT LLC on May 5, 2021. Nortek asserted claims for breach of contract, specific performance, and implied common-law indemnification. ITT moved to compel arbitration. The court granted that motion on March 4, 2022, and directed the parties to arbitrate their dispute.

Nortek’s Motion

Nortek moved under Local Civil Rule 6.3 for clarification of the earlier order. It asked whether the court intended to prevent Nortek from contesting before the arbitrator whether its first two claims were subject to arbitration. In the alternative, Nortek asked the court to reconsider any part of the earlier order that had such an effect.

Court’s Analysis

The court explained that clarification resolves ambiguity in an existing order; it does not change the order. The court determined that its earlier order was unambiguous: the arbitrator was to decide whether Nortek’s claims were subject to arbitration. The earlier order had found a clear and unmistakable agreement to arbitrate the question of arbitrability.

The court stated that the parties were free to make arguments about whether any of Nortek’s claims were subject to arbitration before the arbitrator. The court would abide by the arbitrator’s decision.

Disposition

The court denied Nortek’s motion for clarification. It denied as moot Nortek’s alternative motion for reconsideration because the earlier order did not prevent Nortek from making arguments about arbitrability. The Clerk was directed to terminate the pending motion.