Crowell v. Downey Community Hospital Foundation

In Crowell v. Downey Community Hospital Foundation (2002) 95 Cal.App.4th 730, the arbitration agreement permitted a court to vacate an arbitrator's award if it was not supported by substantial evidence or if it was based on an error of law. (Crowell, supra, 95 Cal.App.4th at p. 733, fn. 2.) The primary holding in Crowell was that the parties to an arbitration agreement cannot contractually expand the scope of judicial review beyond that provided by statute: " Because the Legislature clearly set forth the trial court's jurisdiction to review arbitration awards when it specified grounds for vacating or correcting awards in sections 1286.2 and 1286.6, we hold that the parties cannot expand that jurisdiction by contract to include a review on the merits." (Id. at p. 739.) Finding the invalid judicial review provision was central to and unseverable from the arbitration agreement, the Crowell court concluded the entire agreement was void and unenforceable. (Id. at pp. 739-740.)