(February 23, 2017, 10:37 AM EST) -- GREENBELT, Md. — A Maryland federal judge on Feb. 14 denied petitioners’ motion to dismiss an arbitration award against them, saying that the arbitrator’s decision to enforce a noncompetition provision did not display a “manifest disregard of the law” but instead was based on the “essence” of the parties’ franchise agreement (Stephen Frye, et al. v. Wild Bird Centers of America Inc., No. 8:16cv3216, D. Md., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 20999)....