Garrity v. Lyle Stuart, Inc.

Author Garrity (plaintiff) had publishing contracts with Lyle Stuart (defendant) containing arbitration clauses silent on punitive damages; after a royalty dispute went to arbitration, Garrity sought both compensatory and punitive damages, and Lyle objected to her standing and the arbitration's conduct but never specifically objected to the punitive damages request itself, eventually walking out of the proceedings. The arbitrators awarded $45,000 compensatory and $7,500 punitive damages; when Garrity moved to confirm the award, Lyle raised for the first time that the punitive award exceeded the arbitrators' authority, and Garrity argued this objection was waived by not being raised earlier. The trial court and intermediate appellate court both confirmed the full award.