Background
In July 2022, plaintiff Luann Mikoff, as special administrator of the estate of her late mother Bonnie Stone (decedent), filed a complaint against defendants, Unlimited Development, Inc., and Jerseyville Manor, a skilled nursing facility (Facility), alleging that defendants were responsible for decedent’s premature death from COVID-19 contracted while
under their care. In September 2022, defendants filed a motion to stay the proceedings and compel arbitration pursuant to the terms of the parties’ arbitration agreement. In January 2023, the Jersey County circuit court entered a written order granting defendants’ motion to compel arbitration. Plaintiff’s motion to vacate and set aside that order was denied in May 2023.
The Appellate Court of Illinois Fourth District (“Illinois Appellate Court”) stated in its Opinion filed on February 1, 2024: “the question of whether the parties formed a contract for arbitration is one to be determined according to Illinois law. The analysis may differ, however, depending on which type of claim is being examined. Consequently, our contract formation analysis looks separately at the question of whether there was a valid contract formed for arbitration of the
decedent’s claims brought under the Survival Act, as opposed to the claims of the next of kin under the Wrongful Death Act.”
“[A]s to decedent’s direct claims made under the Survival Act, plaintiff has failed to show she was not authorized to sign the arbitration agreement. As such, the circuit court’s determination that “an agreement to arbitrate was properly formed” was not erroneous.”
“The real parties in interest in a wrongful death claim are the decedent’s next of kin … The supreme court’s decision in Carter II controls the determination of whether the wrongful death claims must be sent to arbitration. In a case with facts similar to those at issue here, the supreme court held that wrongful death claims arising out of the death of a nursing home resident were not subject to an arbitration agreement to which the wrongful death beneficiaries were not parties.”
“The supreme court’s decision in Carter II was made after full consideration of the application of the FAA. The conclusion that the beneficiaries could not be bound by an agreement to which they were not parties is consistent with the “first principle” of FAA jurisprudence: that arbitration is strictly a matter of consent. Moriana, 596 U.S. at _, 142 S. Ct. at 1918. In any event, the supreme court’s decision in Carter II binds us here and requires that we reverse the
circuit court’s order sending the wrongful death claims to arbitration.”
Source Mikoff v. Unlimited Development, Inc., 2024 IL App (4th) 230513.
If you or a loved one suffered injuries (or worse) during a nursing home stay in Illinois or elsewhere in the United States, you should promptly contact a local nursing home negligence attorney in Illinois or in your state to investigate your possible nursing home negligence claim for you and file a nursing home claim on your behalf or on behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
Visit our website to be connected with medical malpractice lawyers (nursing home lawyers) in your state who may be able to assist you with your medical malpractice claim (nursing home negligence claim), or call us toll-free at 800-295-3959.
Turn to us when you don’t know where to turn.
