MEMORANDUM OPINION
I. INTRODUCTION
This cause is before the court on motions filed in three different cases. Although the cases have not been consolidated, they all involve the same provision of Woodmen’s constitution and by-laws. Therefore, the court will discuss all of the arguments raised in the various cases together in this one Memorandum Opinion.
This court previously granted Motions to Dismiss in these cases and the court’s decision was appealed to the Eleventh Circuit.
II. FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT
Pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, a written arbitration “provision in any ... contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce ... [is] valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.” 9 U.S.C. § 2, Section 4 of the FAA allows a “party aggrieved by the alleged failure, neglect, or refusal of another to arbitrate under a written agreement” to petition the court “for an order directing that such arbitration proceed.” When a court is “satisfied that the making of the agreement for arbitration or the failure to comply therewith is not in issue,” the court is required to “make an order directing the parties to proceed to arbitration in accordance with the terms of the agreement.” 9 U.S.C. § 4.
III. DISCUSSION
The arbitration provision in question, which was placed in Woodmen’s constitution and by-laws, reads as follows:
Step 3: If step 2 [requiring mediation] does not result in a mutually satisfactory resolution, arbitration administered by and in accordance with the applicable arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association (or another neutral organization mutually agreed upon). The arbitrator may award any and all damages or other relief allowed for the claim in dispute by applicable federal or state law, excluding attorneys fees unless otherwise required by applicable law. Unless (and to the extent) prohibited by applicable law with respect to the issue in dispute, the decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding, subject only to the right to appeal such decision as provided in the arbitration rules and applicable law.
The Defendants in these cases have raised different arguments for why this court should not enforce the arbitration clause contained in the constitution and by-laws of Woodmen. These arguments are that (1) there is no agreement to arbitrate, (2) the arbitration agreement is unenforceable under Alabama law, (3) the arbitration clause is not found within a contract evidencing interstate commerce, (4) the contract is not subject to arbitration under MeCarran-Ferguson, (5) the amendment to Woodmen’s constitution violated the Defendants’ right to a jury trial, and (6) Woodmen’s petitions for arbitration violate federalism. The court will address each of the arguments made by a Defendant as if they had been raised by all Defendants. The Defendants first argue that there is no agreement to arbitrate because the Defendants received an insurance certificate which made no mention of arbitration. Woodmen responds that while the benefits certificates do not mention the arbitration agreement, the arbitration clause is found in Woodmen’s constitution and laws and is a provision of the contract by incorporation. Woodmen argues that the provisions of the Alabama Code governing fraternal benefit societies, such as Woodmen, dictate that the arbitration provision is incorporated into the agreements between Woodmen and the Defendants.
Under the Alabama Code, a fraternal benefit society must issue a certificate specifying the amount of benefits provided to its members. Ala.Code § 27-34 — 29 (1986). This certificate, together with any riders or endorsements, the charter or articles of incorporation, the constitution and laws of the society, the application for membership, the declaration of insurability, and all amendments to each thereof shall constitute the agreement between the society and the member. Id. Woodmen amended its constitution and laws to include an arbitration clause.
This court, and other district courts in this circuit, as well as state courts, have previously addressed the issue of whether the arbitration clause in Woodmen’s constitution and laws is a part of the contract between the society and its members. See
The Defendants have, however, cited this court to a recent decision of the Supreme Court of Alabama.
See Ex Parte Hopper,
In part two of the opinion, the portion of the opinion concurred in by four justices with another concurring in the result, Justice Kennedy states that even assuming a valid arbitration agreement between Woodmen and the benefit society members, the agreement could not be used to compel the particular society members in that case to arbitrate because them complaint was filed before the arbitration procedure went into effect. Id. at-, *4.
Woodmen strenuously argues that this court should not follow Ex Parte Hopper. Woodmen states that the part of the opinion stating that the arbitration agreement was not enforceable was not joined in by a majority of the justices, and that the only two justices who concurred in the reasoning in part one of the opinion have since retired. Woodmen also states that the part of the opinion which was joined by the majority does not apply in these cases because Walter Clayton filed his lawsuit on May 9, 1997, Louis Benson filed his lawsuit on July 28, 1997, and the Whites filed their lawsuit on January 14, 1998. The Alabama Supreme Court held that the amendment incorporating the arbitration agreement took effect on January 28, 1997. Id. Therefore, Woodmen argues, all of these cases, unlike the Ex Parte Hopper case, 1 were filed after the amendment became effective.
The court agrees that the portion of the
Ex Parte Hopper
opinion which finds the Woodmen arbitration agreement to be unenforceable is not binding as only three justices concurred in that portion of the opinion. While this court, sitting in diversity, is bound to apply the law of the State of Alabama in a manner in which it thinks the highest court would apply the law, the fact that a majority did not concur in part one, the departure from the court of two concurring justices, and the strong dissent, cast doubt on the viability of this part of the case.
Cf. Vargus v. Pitman Manufacturing Co.,
Additionally, it appears that rather than applying general principles of contract law to the case before it, part one of the opinion applied a rule which it found to be applicable to arbitration agreements. Only “state laws that are applicable to contracts generally may be applied to arbitration agreements; a state law that singles out arbitration agreements for disfavored treatment is displaced by the FAA.”
Roberson v. Money Tree of Alabama, Inc.,
The Defendants have raised an additional argument for why the arbitration agreement is unenforceable under Alabama law. They state that the certificate issued to the Defendants by Woodmen contains a provision which states that the “terms of this certificate will be governed by the laws of the state where it is delivered.” The Defendants argue that recent Supreme Court of Alabama decisions lead to the conclusion that the arbitration clause is unenforceable because it provides an exception for applicable law and the applicable law is, by virtue of the choice-of-law clause, Alabama law. In support of this argument, the Defendants cite
Fidelity National Title Insurance v. Jericho Management, Inc.,
In Fidelity II, the court decided that the arbitration provision which was to apply “unless prohibited by applicable law” was enforceable in Alabama because the reference to “applicable law” meant either state or federal law. Fidelity II, at 743. The Defendants argue that in the instant case “the applicable law” does not refer to both state and federal law because the Woodmen certificate contains a choice-of-law provision which says that it is governed by the “laws of the state.”
Woodmen argues in response that the holding in Fidelity II, that the phrase within the insurance contract stating “unless prohibited by applicable law” referred to both federal and state law, also applies here. Woodmen states that the parties intended either federal or state law to apply, where applicable, and that the choice of law clause does not alter that interpretation. Woodmen points out that the contract in Fidelity II had a provision which stated that an arbitration of a dispute involving the title insurance would be governed by “the law of the situs of the land,” but that the Alabama Supreme Court determined that the parties did not intend for the Federal Arbitration Act not to apply.
In determining the intent of the parties in
Fidelity
II, the Supreme Court of Alabama made it clear that it was considering the entirety of the arbitration provision in determining what was meant by “applicable law.”
Id.
at 743. The court refers to the drafters’ references to state law in two sentences in the arbitration provision.
Id.
One reference to state law in the arbitration provision is the choice of law provision. Therefore, it appears that the court decided that
The Defendants also cite two United States Supreme Court decisions in support of their argument. In
Mastrobuono v. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc.,
The Defendants also cite
Volt Information Sciences, Inc. v. Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University,
Woodmen distinguishes these cases by stating that the state law in Volt was found to actually foster the policies behind the Federal Arbitration Act because it allowed for the arbitration of disputes. Woodmen states that Mastrobuono held that the choice of law provision did not limit the preemptive power of the Federal Arbitration Act, but that Alabama’s anti-arbitration statute is much more contrary to the Federal Arbitration Act and its underlying policy than a state law which prohibited punitive damages.
The court agrees that
Volt
and
Mastrobuo-no
are distinguishable from the case at hand because the Alabama rule which the Defendants now seek to apply would render the arbitration agreement within the contract to which the parties agreed unenforceable, while the agreements in
Volt
and
Mastrobuo-no
dealt only with procedural issues and, even where the state law was enforced, the state law actually fostered arbitration.
See Volt,
The Eighth Circuit has previously addressed an argument similar to the argument which the Defendants have made in this case.
See Webb v. R. Rowland & Co.,
This court finds that
Mastrobuono
does not alter this result since it is significantly factually distinguishable. Additionally, while the Eleventh Circuit has applied
Mastrobuo-no
in the context of a punitive damages question,
see Davis v. Prudential Securities, Inc.,
The Defendants have also argued that the contracts between Woodmen and the Defendants are not in or affecting interstate commerce. This court has previously concluded that the benefits certificates issued by Woodmen fall within the analysis in
Polish National Alliance, et al. v. National Labor Relations Board,
The Defendants also argue that an arbitration clause within an insurance contract cannot be enforced because the McCar-ran-Ferguson Act prohibits federal control of state laws which regulate the business of insurance. See 15 U.S.C. § 1012(b). The Defendants cite to precedent from other jurisdictions in which McCarran-Ferguson was applied to arbitration provisions contained in state insurance codes.
Although the Alabama Supreme Court apparently has not interpreted its anti-arbitration provision within the context of a McCarran-Ferguson argument, one dissenting Justice has examined Alabama law in that context. In
Ryan Warranty Services, Inc. v. Welch,
This court has also expressed an opinion consistent with Justice Maddox’s reasoning.
See Clayton v. Woodmen of the World,
The Defendants have also cited to a separate provision of the Alabama Code, § 27-14-22,
4
which governs the applicability of general law to the insurance code. Two arguments appear to be made based on this statute. The Defendants appear to argue first that this statute shows that the anti-arbitration provision was intended to apply to contracts for insurance. Another district court analyzing an incorporation argument, for purposes of applying MeCarran-Fergu-son within the context of an ERISA case, noted that the fact that the insurance code was incorporated into a statute of general application did not mean that McCarran-Ferguson applied, because, among other reasons, the law of general application applied to entities other than insurance entities.
McManus v. Travelers Health Network of Texas,
The Defendants also argue that enforcement of arbitration clauses will violate this specific statutory provision because it says that insurance contracts are to be governed by the laws of the state. Woodmen responds that this statute is merely a conflict of law statute, and has no bearing on whether arbitration clauses may be enforced.
The court has been cited to no cases in which this limited type of incorporation statute was considered to be violated or super-ceded under McCarran-Ferguson by enforcement of an arbitration provision. This incorporation statute is not a provision in which the statute governing arbitration specifically exempted insurance contracts. “When the overwhelming public policy in favor of arbitration is weighted against the speculative infringement upon ... insurance laws ...” the balance clearly favors compelling arbitration.
Life of America Ins. Co. v. Aetna Life Ins. Co., 744
F.2d 409, 413 (5th Cir.1984). Furthermore, the Alabama Supreme Court has enforced arbitration agreements in insurance contracts, indicating that arbitration clauses are not unenforceable merely because they are contained in insurance contracts.
See e.g., Ex Parte Rager,
In addition, as Woodmen has pointed out, Woodmen is a fraternal benefit society which issues benefit certificates, not insurance policies. The portion of the Alabama Code
Except as provided in this chapter, societies shall be governed by this chapter and shall be exempt from all other provisions of the insurance laws of this state, not only in governmental relations with the state, but for very other purpose. No law hereafter enacted shall apply to them unless they are expressly designated therein.
Ala.Code § 27-34-4. Alabama Code § 27-34-54 lists chapters and specific provisions of the Alabama insurance law which do apply to benefit societies. None of the listed chapters or provisions include Alabama Code § 27-14-22. 6 For this additional reason, the court finds that the Defendants’ arguments that enforcement of the fraternal benefits society’s arbitration clause violates or supercedes § 27-14-22 is unavailing.
The Defendants advance the additional argument that Woodmen’s change of the constitution and bylaws to include an arbitration provision violates the Defendants’ right to a trial by jury. Given this court’s decision that the arbitration clause is binding, based on principles of Alabama contract and statutory law which incorporate those changes into the agreements between the Defendants and Woodmen, this argument is unavailing. Federal courts have determined that arbitration is a valid and enforceable method of settling disputes.
See LeFoy v. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith, Inc.,
No. CV 89-PT-0296-E,
The Defendants have argued finally that principles of federalism require dismissal of this action because Woodmen first filed its Petition to Compel Arbitration in the underlying state action and then withdrew the state court petition and filed its petition in federal court. The Defendants argue that the Petition should be dismissed because it amounts to forum shopping. The court finds no authority to support this argument. To the contrary, the Eleventh Circuit has expressly held that federal district courts are not to dismiss petitions for arbitration merely because a case is also pending in state court.
See TranSouth Financial Corporation v. Bell,
IV. CONCLUSION
For the reasons discussed, the court concludes that the Petitions for Arbitration are due to be GRANTED. The matter is due to be stayed pending arbitration in compliance with 9 U.S.C. § 3.
Bender v. A.G. Edwards & Sons, Inc.,
Notes
. The dissenting .justices in Ex Parte Hopper found that the amendment went into effect on December 31, 1996. All of the cases involved here, however, were filed after either date, so the court need not address this issue.
. In addition, in deciding not to interpret the agreement consistently with general principles of contract law, the plurality opinion cited federal cases to support the idea that such incorporation was insufficient.
Ex Parte Hopper,
at-,
. Although the benefits certificates at issue in this case are not technically insurance policies, these cases apply by analogy because the certificates share characteristics with insurance policies that are relevant to the question of whether they are in interstate commerce.
. Ala.Code § 27-14-22 provides "All contracts of insurance, the application for which is taken within this state, shall be deemed to have been made within this state and subject to the laws thereof.”
. The Defendants have also raised the argument, based on statements made in a Congressional Subcommittee, that the legislative intent of the FAA was for it not to apply to insurance contracts. As evidenced by Ex Parte Rager, courts enforce arbitration agreements in insurance contracts. Barring application of McCarran-Fergu-son, the court finds that statements in a Congressional subcommittee do not undermine the conclusion of courts that arbitration agreements agreed to are enforceable, whether in insurance contracts, or other forms of contracts.
. Alabama Code § 27-34-54 lists
(1) Chapter 1;
(2) Chapter 2;
(3) The following sections of chapter 3:
a. Section 27-3-4; and
b. 27-3-5;
(4) The following sections of chapter 10;
a. Section 27-10-1;
b. Section 27-10-2; and
c.Section 27-10-3;
(5) Chapter 12;
(6) Section 27-15-29
(7) The following sections of chapter 27:
a. Section 27-27-26;
b. Section 27-27-27;
c. Section 27-27-29; and
d. Section 27-27-50; and
(8) Chapter 32.
