corp_buyer,
You said, " The body of case law is quite clear that an arbitration award does NOT have to follow NY law,... "
But it is not prohibited from following NY law. The Supreme Court ruling in Mastrobuono v. Shearson Lehman Hutton, Inc. (94-18), 514 U.S. 52 (1995) did not invalidate the Garrity rule. It said that if there is a conflict, then the arbitration rule will be the deciding factor. As I said that IMO, IDCC will prevail in any appeal process. Despite this, I still think there is a good chance that the Judge will modify the award.