Johnson v. Saenz
Appellate Court of Illinois
725 N.E.2d 774 (2000)
Saenz (defendant) was sued by Johnson (plaintiff) after a car accident; the case went to mandatory arbitration, which was rescheduled to a nearby arbitration center rather than the courthouse. Saenz's attorney appeared, but Saenz, who had limited English, mistakenly went to the courthouse after a court employee misdirected her without mentioning the separate arbitration center. The arbitration panel awarded Johnson $19,500, and when Saenz sought to reject the award, the trial court barred her from doing so because she had not personally appeared, and Saenz appealed.
Whether a party's failure to appear at arbitration warrants barring that party from rejecting the arbitration award when the failure to appear did not stem from a deliberate disregard of court rules.