Supreme Court Discards the Prejudice Requirement for Waiving Delayed Arbitration

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court unanimously held in Morgan v. Sundance that litigants are no longer required to show prejudice when opposing a party’s delayed attempt to compel arbitration. Previously, an Eighth Circuit decision refused to find that the right to arbitrate a dispute was waived after months of ongoing litigation unless the party opposing arbitration could show their litigation position was prejudiced by the delay. Since the two parties had not yet litigated on the merits, the Eighth Circuit majority ruled that the plaintiff was not prejudiced by the delayed arbitration demand.