Visiting Nurse Association of Florida, Inc. v. Jupiter Medical Center, Inc.

Summary

The court quashed the Fourth District’s decision requiring a trial court to determine whether the underlying contract was illegal before enforcing an arbitration award. It held that neither the Federal Arbitration Act nor the Florida Arbitration Code permits judicial review of an arbitrator’s construction of a contract on that basis, and that the arbitrators did not exceed their powers by deciding the submitted breach-of-contract dispute. The court also concluded that the transaction involved interstate commerce and that the Federal Arbitration Act applied, while the consistent provisions of the Florida Arbitration Code also governed.