NO. 27581 – Wednesday, July 9, 2008 – 9:00 a.m.

WILLIAM KAY, JR., Individually and as Special Administrator of the ESTATE OF JEFFREY KAY, Petitioner-Appellant, vs. KAISER FOUNDATION HEALTH PLAN, INC., Respondent-Appellee.

Attorney(s) for Petitioner-Appellant
Richard Turbin, Rai Saint Chu and David W. Barlow

Attorney(s) for Respondent-Appellee
George W. Playdon, Jr. and Kelvin H. Kaneshiro (Reinwald, O’Connor & Playdon)

COURT: Foley, Fujise and Leonard, JJ.

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Brief description:

Jeffrey Kay (Jeffrey) brought a medical malpractice claim against Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc. (Kaiser) for failing to diagnose his brain tumor and demanded arbitration pursuant to Kaiser’s service agreement. The three-member arbitration panel found that Kaiser’s negligence was not a cause of Jeffrey’s injuries.

Jeffrey filed a petition to vacate the arbitration award, pursuant to HRS 658-9, alleging “evident partiality.” Jeffrey died from his brain tumor, and William Kay, Jr. (Kay), Jeffrey’s father, was substituted as a party. The circuit court dismissed Kay’s petition and granted Kaiser’s cross-petition to confirm the award. On appeal, Kay argues, inter alia, that the circuit court erred when it declined to vacate the award, which was allegedly tainted by evident partiality as a result of an arbitrator’s failure to disclose her relationship with Kaiser wherein she solicited contributions from Kaiser for a charitable organization with which she was affiliated.