[Download] "Jackson Trak Group, Inc. v. Mid States Port Authority" by Supreme Court of Kansas # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Jackson Trak Group, Inc. v. Mid States Port Authority
- Author : Supreme Court of Kansas
- Release Date : January 19, 1988
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 74 KB
Description
The opinion of the court was delivered by Mid States Port Authority (Mid States), operator of a short
line railroad in northwest Kansas, and Jackson Trak Group, Inc.,
(Jackson Trak) which constructs and rehabilitates railroad track,
entered into three separate contracts to rehabilitate portions of
Mid States' lines. All three contracts bound the parties to
mandatory arbitration. After notifying Jackson Trak
[242 Kan. 684]
that its work was defective, Mid States filed an action in the
Phillips County District Court for possession of Jackson Trak's
equipment. Prior to receiving judicial approval, Mid States
seized Jackson Trak's equipment. Jackson Trak then filed an
application for mandatory injunction and replevin of property,
but specifically reserved the right to determine the issue of
defective work in an arbitration proceeding. The Phillips County
District Court found that Mid States had followed the contractual
procedure when seizing the property, but refused to determine
issues subject to arbitration under the contracts. Jackson Trak
then initiated a request for arbitration, seeking damages for
work performed and for loss of use of its equipment due to Mid
States' wrongful seizure. After the selection of the arbitrators,
Mid States objected to the arbitrators' power to award damages
for "conversion" of Jackson Trak's equipment because that issue
had already been decided by the Phillips County District Court.
After denying the objection, the arbitrators found for Jackson
Trak on all issues and awarded damages. Jackson Trak sought
confirmation of the arbitration award in the Sedgwick County
District Court. Mid States objected to Jackson Trak's motion and
moved to vacate the award for improper seizure of Jackson Trak's
equipment. The District Court of Sedgwick County affirmed the
arbitration award. Mid States appeals the confirmation order,
claiming principally that the arbitrators had no jurisdiction to
award damages for the seizure of the equipment because (1) the
issue had already been determined by the Phillips County District
Court, (2) Jackson Trak's claim was a tort action and not subject
to arbitration under the Kansas Uniform Arbitration Act, and (3)
venue for confirmation of the award was not proper in Sedgwick
County. We affirm, finding that res judicata does not apply; that
the claim for wrongful seizure of the equipment sounds in
contract, not in tort; and that venue in Sedgwick County was
proper.