A few days ago, it was reported that Jay-Z and his legal team sued the American Arbitration Association upon discovering the panel lacked enough African American arbitrators judge a trademarking case fairly. In his suit, the rapper stated, "The AAA’s lack of African-American arbitrators came as a surprise to [Carter], in part because of AAA’s advertising touting its diversity." The suit goes on to claim that “[Carter] was confronted with a stark reality: he could not identify a single African-American arbitrator on the ‘Large and Complex Cases’ roster, composed of hundreds of arbitrators, that had the background and experience to preside over the arbitration."
The trademarking case in question arose after clothing company Iconix filed a suit against the artist on the basis of infringement claims. The company alleged that Jay-Z, who's Rocawear apparel brand they acquired in 2007, violated the terms of their agreement when he entered a hat deal with Major League Baseball. 2 months ago, Iconix filed an arbitration proceeding against Jay-Z, demanding that he present financial information to the court, a move that Jay-Z's lawyer Alex Spiro, labeled a litigation tactic.
A Manhattan Supreme Court Judge, Saliann Scarpulla, has put a pause on Carter's battle with Iconix Brand Group until a hearing on the issue of the arbitration panel takes place next month.
