The child of a deceased long-term care resident is not bound to an arbitration agreement because she signed it on behalf of her mother — not herself — an Illinois court ruled in September.
After the 2006 death of her mother, Joyce Gott, Sue Carter filed a wrongful death claim and sought damages for negligent care against the parent company, SSC Odin Operating Company LLC, of at Odin Healthcare Center in Odin, IL.
Odin countered that Carter and Gott had signed binding arbitration agreements in 2005 and 2006 that said those involved would arbitrate agreements of claims that were at least $200,000.
The court, however, agreed with lower courts that Carter “cannot be compelled to arbitrate the wrongful-death claim against defendant.”
“Plaintiff, as Gott’s personal representative in the wrongful-death action, is merely a nominal party, effectively filing suit as a statutory trustee on behalf of the next of kin,” Judge Mary Jane Theis wrote in her ruling. “Plaintiff is not prosecuting the wrongful-death claim on behalf of Gott, and thus is not bound by Gott’s agreement to arbitrate for purposes of this cause of action.”
The court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court in a widely noted case had recently instructed the West Virginia Supreme Court to re-examine its ruling on arbitration, saying that it had incorrectly applied federal law.
But the Illinois court has different reasons for striking down the arbitration agreement, justices said.
“Our holding, unlike the West Virginia court’s holding, is not based on a categorical anti-arbitration rule; it is based on common law principles governing all contracts,” Theis wrote.
The case was remanded to trial court. n
From the November 01, 2012 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
