Allowing Minors to Repudiate Their Agreements to Arbitrate

September 4, 2025  |  New York Law Journal

Southern District Judge J. Paul Oetken’s recent ruling in Melendez v. Ethical Culture Fieldston School addresses the conflict between minors’ right to void contracts under New York law and arbitration provisions in such contracts. In Melendez, two minors and their mother sued their former school alleging race discrimination and argued that they were not bound by arbitration clauses in their enrollment contracts. Judge Oetken allowed the minors to repudiate their contracts due to infancy, while the mother remained bound to arbitrate. Up next, the Second Circuit will review the decision. In their latest article for the NYLJ, “Allowing Minors to Repudiate Their Agreements to Arbitrate,” Morvillo Abramowitz partners Edward M. Spiro and Christopher B. Harwood explore how Judge Oetken applied New York’s infancy doctrine alongside federal arbitration law to navigate the complex intersection of minors’ contract rights and arbitration enforcement.

Allowing Minors to Repudiate Their Agreements to Arbitrate