6th Circuit extends rule regarding post-contract expiration dispute arbitrability

In Litton Financial Printing Division v. NLRB, (1991), the Supreme Court held that there is a presumption in favor of arbitration when a dispute arises under an expired collective bargaining agreement unless that presumption is 'negated expressly or by clear implication."  In South Central Power Co. v. IBEW, (1999), the 6th Circuit held that under Litton, a dispute "arises under the contract" not when "any" facts and circumstances relating to the dispute arose before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement, but rather, 'when a majority of the material facts and occurrences arose before the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement."

Today in Zucker v. After Six, Inc. (Unpublished), the 6th Circuit extended the South Central rule to apply not just to disputes involving collective bargaining agreements, but also to disputes involving individual employment or independent contractor agreements.  In Zucker, the court affirmed the lower court's holding that the majority of material facts arose after the agreement in question expired, and therefore the dispute was not arbitrable.