TOWN OF AMHERST v. GRANITE STATE INSURANCE COMPANY INC (2017)

Court of Appeals of New York.

TOWN OF AMHERST, Appellant, v. GRANITE STATE INSURANCE COMPANY, INC., Respondent.

Decided: June 01, 2017

John G. Schmidt, Jr., for appellant. Marc S. Voses, for respondent.

MEMORANDUM:

The order of the Appellate Division, insofar as appealed from, should be affirmed, with costs. Under the facts of this case, including the terms of the parties' insurance policy, which incorporated the rules of the American Arbitration Association, the issue of whether the later agreement between the parties affected the arbitrability of the dispute should be resolved by the arbitrator (see Matter of Cassone, 63 N.Y.2d 756 [1984]; Matter of Schlaifer v. Sedlow, 51 N.Y.2d 181 [1980] ).

Unlike the majority, I interpret the arbitration clause at issue here as narrow, rather than broad. In my view, under the facts of this case and that interpretation of the policy, the determination of the arbitrability of the parties' dispute should be made by the courts (see generally Silverstein Props. v. Paine, Webber, Jackson & Curtis, 65 N.Y.2d 785, 787–788 [1985] ). Accordingly, I dissent and would reverse the order of the Appellate Division.

Order, insofar as appealed from, affirmed, with costs, in a memorandum.

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