SEVIER COUNTY SCHOOLS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION; SUSANNE MUNSON; GEOFFREY WOLPERT; CHARLES MCGAHA; CHARLENE MCGAHA; ROBIN NICHOLS; GREGORY NICHOLS; REX NICHOLS; SARAH MORRISON v. BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY - Articles

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SEVIER COUNTY SCHOOLS FEDERAL CREDIT UNION; SUSANNE MUNSON; GEOFFREY WOLPERT; CHARLES MCGAHA; CHARLENE MCGAHA; ROBIN NICHOLS; GREGORY NICHOLS; REX NICHOLS; SARAH MORRISON v. BRANCH BANKING AND TRUST COMPANY

Posted by: Karen Belcher on Mar 8, 2021

Court: 6th Circuit Court (Published Opinions)

Attorneys 1: ARGUED: Gregory Brown, LOWE YEAGER & BROWN PLLC, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellants.

Attorneys 2: ARGUED: John S. Hicks, BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWTIZ, P.C., Nashville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Attorneys 3: ON BRIEF: Gregory Brown, Christopher Field, W. Scott Hickerson, LOWE YEAGER & BROWN PLLC, Knoxville, Tennessee, Donald K. Vowell, THE VOWELL LAW FIRM, Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellants.

Attorneys 4: ON BRIEF: John S. Hicks, Christopher E. Thorsen, BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWTIZ, P.C., Nashville, Tennessee, Nicholas W. Diegel, BAKER, DONELSON, BEARMAN, CALDWELL & BERKOWTIZ, P.C., Knoxville, Tennessee, for Appellee.

Judge(s): MOORE, GILMAN, and GRIFFIN, Circuit Judges

Court Appealed: Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee at Knoxville

RONALD LEE GILMAN, Circuit Judge. This is a putative class action brought by the Sevier County Schools Federal Credit Union and other account holders (the Plaintiffs) against the Branch Banking & Trust Company (BB&T). The Plaintiffs allege that BB&T failed to honor a commitment made by one of its predecessors, the First National Bank of Gatlinburg (FNB), promising that the annual interest rate on certain high-interest Money Market Investment Accounts was guaranteed to “never fall below 6.50%.”

The Plaintiffs might well prevail on the merits of their dispute with BB&T because, on the surface at least, the bank is trying to wriggle out of a commitment made years ago to these Plaintiffs by FNB. But the issue presently before us is not the merits of this dispute; instead, we must decide whether the merits should be resolved by a court or by an arbitrator. This is because BB&T’s Bank Services Agreement (BSA) specifies that all disputes between the parties “shall be determined by arbitration.”

BB&T moved to dismiss the complaint and to compel arbitration, which the district court granted. For the reasons set forth below, we REVERSE the judgment of the district court and REMAND the case for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

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