Woodrow W. Dawahare v. Adam A. Spencer Dean Witter Reynolds, Inc. Smith Barney, Inc.

**What Happened:** Woodrow Dawahare worked as a financial advisor for Dean Witter Reynolds (later Smith Barney). When a dispute arose over his employment contract, the case went to arbitration rather than court. The arbitrators ruled against Dawahare and ordered him to pay $49,000 in damages to his former employer. Dawahare disagreed with this decision and tried to challenge it in federal court, arguing that the arbitrators were biased against him and made serious errors in calculating damages. **What the Court Decided:** The appeals court upheld the arbitration decision against Dawahare. The judges found that he failed to prove the arbitrators showed "evident partiality" (clear bias) or that they "manifestly disregarded" (obviously ignored) legal rules about damages. The court confirmed that Dawahare must pay the $49,000. **What This Means for Workers:** This case shows how difficult it is to overturn arbitration decisions, even when workers believe the process was unfair. Many employment contracts require arbitration instead of court trials, and courts will rarely reverse arbitrators' decisions unless there's clear evidence of bias or major legal errors. Workers should carefully review arbitration clauses in employment agreements and understand that arbitration decisions are usually final.