Cleveland Gets Trial on Arbitration Spat in Utility Class (1)

An Ohio appeals court said Thursday that a judge presiding over a multi-million-dollar class action against the city of Cleveland over allegedly improper electric customer fees must hold a trial on whether the dispute should be arbitrated.

The Cuyahoga County Common Pleas judge who presides over the case was required under Ohio law to hold the trial because there is a genuine dispute over whether there is an enforceable arbitration agreement, a three-judge panel from the Eighth District Court of Appeals ruled.

The Cleveland-based appeals court sent the case back down for a trial that focuses solely on the arbitration ...