TESLA MOTORS, INC. ET AL VS. CRISTINA BALAN

Matter on the Law & Motion / Discovery calendar for Monday, October 13, 2025, Line 1. 2 - PETITION TO VACATE ARBITRATION AWARD.

Respondent Cristina Balan's petition to vacate arbitration award is denied. The tentative ruling issued prior to the August 19, 2025 hearing is re-issued with the following addition: I find that the Arbitrator did not pre-decide the choice of law against Ms. Balan prior to receiving briefing on that issue leading to his issuance of the August 29, 2021 order granting Respondents' Motion to Apply California Law.

Viewed in context, the unique and somewhat convoluted facts of this case persuade me that the Arbitrator kept an open mind about the applicable law until after he received the parties' briefs on that issue. Although some of the statements made by the Arbitrator on May 27, 2021 and June 17, 2021, when considered in isolation, suggest that the Arbitrator had decided the choice of law issue prior to receiving briefing on that issue, I find that, when considered in full context, those statements reflect the Arbitrator's preliminary views based on the information he had as of the time the statements were made and were not reflective of a final or conclusive determination and not preclusive of the Arbitrator's full, fair and impartial determination of the choice of law issue after receiving briefing on that issue.

Specifically, I find that at the June 17, 2021 arbitration management conference, when the Arbitrator allowed petitioners to file a choice of law motion, the Arbitrator had not decided the choice of law issue and waited till receiving the parties' briefing on that motion to decide the choice of law issue.

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