Masterpiece Kitchen & Bath, Inc. v. Gordon

This is the defendants’ appeal of the dismissal of their counterclaim which requested a de novo judicial appeal of an arbitration decision in favor of the plaintiff-contractor.

This matter originated with the parties’ 1992 execution of a written contract for the plaintiff’s construction of a $126,000.00 addition to the defendants’ home. Article 7.1 of the contract provided that all claims and disputes “shall be decided by arbitration ... unless the parties mutually agree otherwise.” Addendum “C” to the contract stated that contract disputes “will be submitted to a private arbitration service…