Pioneer Roofing Organization (PRO) appealed an order from a federal district court granting summary judgment in favor of Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union No. 104 on PRO’s petition to vacate the arbitrator’s award. PRO primarily argued that the arbitrator lacked authority to resolve the underlying grievance, arguing that it was a jurisdictional dispute not subject to arbitration. Reviewing de novo, the Ninth Circuit affirmed, finding that PRO waived its arbitrability challenge by failing to preserve the issue through either of the two recognized methods for doing so: (1) objecting to the arbitrator’s authority, refusing to argue the arbitrability issue before the arbitrator, and proceeding to the merits of the grievance; or (2) making an objection as to jurisdiction and expressly reserving the question on the record. Pioneer Roofing Organization v. Sheet Metal Workers’ Local 104, Case No. 17-15296 (9th Cir. June 4, 2018).
