Caudle v. Sears, Roebuck and Co.

This is an interlocutory appeal pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 307(a)(1) (134 Ill. 2d R. 307(a)(1)) from an order of the circuit court of Wayne County which denied Sears’ motion to compel arbitration and to stay all judicial proceedings pending arbitration. For the reasons set forth below, the circuit court should be reversed.

The relevant facts are as follows: Defendant-appellant, Sears, Roebuck & Co. (hereinafter Sears), decided not to renew separate operating contracts with operators of Sears catalog centers who are from several different States. On September 28, 1992, a class action…