On June 19, 2015, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted a motion for default judgment by the Non-Dietary Exposure Task Force (Task Force) and confirmed an arbitration award against an Indian pesticide manufacturer, Tagros Chemicals India, Ltd. (Tagros) (Non-Dietary Exposure Task Force v. Tagros Chems. India Ltd., 2015 BL 195490, D.D.C., 1:15-cv-00132, 6/19/15). The Task Force sued Tagros after Tagros refused to sign a $500,000 settlement agreement negotiated by the parties in the midst of a Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) arbitration proceeding, and continued its refusal to pay after the Task Force successfully moved the arbitrator to issue an award enforcing the settlement agreement. The Court determined it has jurisdiction because FIFRA “confers jurisdiction on the judiciary to enforce [such] arbitration awards” in federal court and Tagros’ participation in the arbitration allowed the court to exercise jurisdiction over Tagros. The Court found that the arbitration award must be confirmed in full absent evidence of fraud, misrepresentation, or other misconduct by one of the parties, and no such allegations were put forth. The Court also granted the Task Force’s motion seeking permission to register this judgment in other district courts based on information that Tagros’ assets were not in the District of Columbia and evidence of assets in other jurisdictions.
This decision adds to a growing number of recent cases where companies have sought judicial enforcement of a FIFRA arbitration award. Judicial judgments enforcing arbitration awards, in addition to judicial authority to register such judgments in districts where assets are available, are tools data owners are increasingly using to obtain the compensation owed.