This story was originally published by the WND News Center.
An appeals court has determined that an arbitration panel was not allowed to change the rules of a contest after the fact in a ruling that voids a $5 million claim that Trump-supporting MyPillow guy Mike Lindell was supposed to have to pay.
The ruling comes from the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and voided a contest "win" by Robert Zeidman, a software developer.
A report at Just the News explained Lindell had offered a prize of $5 million to anyone who could prove the data regarding Chinese election interference in the 2020 presidential race was "unequivocally" not related to the 2020 election.
Zeidman submitted a 15-page report claiming that was the case, but prize judges found he had not documented his claim adequately.
He took the fight to arbitration, where a panel ruled in his favor.
That panel "concluded the contract requirement that participants 'unequivocally' prove that the cyber data provided was not 'related to the November 2020 election' was unambiguous and Zeidman unequivocally proved the cyber data was not 'packet capture data,'" the 8th Circuit explained.
However, Lindell objected to providing the prize, and the 8th Circuit ruled he had legitimate reasons for doing that.
"We conclude that the [arbitration] panel effectively amended the unambiguous Challenge contract when it used extrinsic evidence to require that the data provided was packet capture data, thereby violating established principles of Minnesota contract law and our arbitration precedents. Accordingly, we reverse the grant of Zeidman's motion to confirm because 'the arbitrators exceeded their powers," the court said.
The opinion, written by U.S. Circuit Judge James Loken, said, "Fair or not, agreed-to contract terms may not be modified by the panel or by this court."
Two other panel judges from the appeals court joined in his conclusion.
According to Just the News, "The judges instructed a lower court to immediately wipe the $5 million arbitration award or conduct further proceedings in accordance with the appeals court's reversal."
Lindell said, in an interview with reporters, "This is vindication. This opens a door that no man can shut. I am so excited. I mean, this is an answer to prayer."
