Justice Kavanaugh's first opinion involves LI's Henry Schein

Justice Brett Kavanaugh's first majority opinion for the Supreme Court, handed down Tuesday, centered on an arbitration dispute involving Long Island's largest public company.

Kavanaugh's eight-page opinion, a unanimous decision by the court, reversed an appellate ruling in a lawsuit filed by Archer & White Sales Inc. against Melville-based Henry Schein Inc.

Plano, Texas-based Archer & White, a distributor of dental supplies, had sued Henry Schein, alleging violations of antitrust laws.

But Henry Schein maintained their contract called for any dispute to be submitted to arbitration and that an arbitrator — not a court — should decide whether their dispute should be settled in court or through arbitration.

"We are pleased by the Supreme Court’s ruling, which reversed a prior ruling of the Fifth Circuit that precluded arbitration of this matter," a Henry Schein spokeswoman said in an email. "We have always maintained that this matter should be arbitrated rather than tried in a court."

Archer & White officials did not immediately respond to calls and emails seeking comment.

In his opinion, Kavanaugh said courts must stick to the text of the Federal Arbitration Act and "are not at liberty to rewrite the statute passed by Congress and signed by the President."

Kavanaugh's is the first opinion to be issued from a session of the court that began in October.

Shares of Henry Schein, which manufactures and distributes dental and medical supplies to practitioners' offices, rose 1.7 percent on Tuesday to close at $75.37.

Henry Schein is Long Island's largest public company based on 2017 revenue of $12.5 billion.

Separately, Henry Schein also announced on Tuesday that it expected to distribute shares of its veterinary-products spinoff on Feb. 4.

The new company, a combination of the Henry Schein unit and Portland, Maine-based Vets First Choice, will be named Covetrus Inc. and trade on the Nasdaq Global Select Market. 

The new company will be based in Maine.

With The Associated Press

By Ken Schachter

kenneth.schachter@newsday.comkschach

Ken Schachter covers corporate news, including technology and aerospace, and other business topics for Newsday. He has also worked at The Miami Herald and The Jerusalem Post.