Pacificare Health Systems v. Jeffrey Book

In Pacificare, the question presented was whether a court may compel arbitration of a plaintiff’s RICO claims under a valid arbitration agreement even if that agreement does not allow an arbitrator to award punitive damages, leaving to the arbitrator in the first instance the decision of what remedies are available to the RICO plaintiff in arbitration.

Public Citizen filed an amicus brief on the merits on the side of the respondent, arguing that waivers of substantive statutory remedies in predispute arbitration agreements violate public policy and are uneforceable. The Supreme Court held that it was premature to address the question and remanded the case to compel arbitration.