N.Y. Judge Denies Petition of ex-Amazon Seller to Vacate Arbitration Award

U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter for Southern New York in Manhattan denied a former Amazon third-party seller's petition to vacate an arbitrator’s award in Amazon’s favor and granted Amazon’s cross-motion to confirm that award, said Carter’s signed order Tuesday (docket 1:23-cv-03054). Hong Kong company Cowin Technology sought recovery of more than $1 million in sales proceeds that Amazon seized, and arbitrator Howard Reiss let it keep, when it deactivated the seller’s account for selling counterfeit goods online and abusing consumer reviews, in violation of the parties’ business solutions agreement (BSA) (see 2304130054). Cowin contended that the court should vacate the award because the award was irrational and because arbitrator Reiss manifestly disregarded the law by finding Section 2 of the BSA was enforceable. It also argued that enforcement of Section 2 violated public policy. But the judge rejected all three claims as the basis for vacating the award, said his order. Cowin hasn’t shown that Reiss manifestly disregarded the law in reaching his decision that Section 2 of the BSA was enforceable, it said. The judge also agreed with the arbitrator that Section 2 didn't violate public policy, it said.