When Chuck Lorre, the producer of Two and a Half Men, and Warner Brothers fired Charlie Sheen from the popular sitcom, Sheen set out to sue both parties in court. However, Sheen petitioned for a temporary restraining order, which would have blocked the issue from being settled through arbitration rather than in court. Warner Brothers fought to send the matter to an arbitrator, stating that matters between cast or crew and production must be settled through arbitration according to contractual agreements.

Sheen and his lawyer were denied a temporary restraining order in one court because the court in which he was suing Lorre and Warner must also be the same court in which he can be granted a restraining order. Sheen and his lawyer subsequently planned to file for the order in the correct court. Alternatively, JAMS, the mediation firm, said it would put an arbitrator on Sheen’s case within days if he refused to choose one. How do you think the court decided? Did the court approve Sheen’s request for a temporary restraining order so that he might avoid arbitration?