Meskill v. GGNSC Stillwater Greeley LLC

862 F. Supp. 2d 966, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72798, 2012 WL 1901490
CourtDistrict Court, D. Minnesota
DecidedMay 25, 2012
DocketCiv. No. 12-851 (RHK/JJG)
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 862 F. Supp. 2d 966 (Meskill v. GGNSC Stillwater Greeley LLC) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Meskill v. GGNSC Stillwater Greeley LLC, 862 F. Supp. 2d 966, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72798, 2012 WL 1901490 (mnd 2012).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

RICHARD H. KYLE, District Judge.

INTRODUCTION

In July 2009, Minnesota’s Attorney General commenced an action against the National Arbitration Forum (the “NAF”), a third-party arbitration service, alleging that it was biased and had violated several Minnesota laws while handling consumer arbitration claims. See, e.g., CompuCredit Corp. v. Greenwood, — U.S. -, 132 S.Ct. 665, 677 n. 2, 181 L.Ed.2d 586 (2012) [969]*969(Ginsburg, J., dissenting). A short time later, the NAF entered into a consent decree and agreed to stop handling such claims. Left in the wake, however, were hundreds of contracts containing clauses mandating arbitration before the NAF or invoking its rules and procedures. Courts have struggled to interpret those contracts since the NAF’s exit from the consumer-arbitration business.

One such contract is at issue in this case. Plaintiff Bruce Meskill, as trustee of the estate of Howard Meskill (his father), commenced this action against Defendant GGNSC Stillwater Greeley LLC d/b/a Golden Living Center — Greeley (“GLC”), a skilled-nursing facility in Stillwater, Minnesota, where the elder Meskill had lived, asserting that it was negligent in the care it had provided. Relying on an arbitration agreement in the documents Mes-kill signed when he arrived at the facility, GLC now moves to compel arbitration. For the reasons set forth below, its Motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND

On September 9, 2009, 83-year-old Howard Meskill was admitted to GLC as a patient. (Compl. ¶¶ 16-17.) At that time, he signed both an “Admission Agreement” and a “Resident and Facility Arbitration Agreement” (the “Arbitration Agreement”). (Bohnen Aff. Exs. A, C.)1 The Arbitration Agreement provided, in pertinent part:

It is understood and agreed by [GLC] and [Meskill] that any and all claims, disputes, and controversies (hereafter collectively referred to as a “claim” or collectively as “claims”) arising out of, or in connection with, or relating in any way to the Admission Agreement or any service or health care provided by [GLC] to [Meskill] shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration to be conducted at a place agreed upon by the Parties, or in the absence of such an agreement, at the [nursing home], in accordance with the National Arbitration Forum Code of Procedure, which is hereby incorporated into this Agreement, and not by a lawsuit or resort to court process. This agreement shall be governed by and interpreted under the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. Sections 1-16.
■This agreement to arbitrate includes, but is not limited to, any claim for payment, nonpayment, or refund for services rendered to [Meskill] by the [GLC], violations of any right granted to [Meskill] by law or by the Admission Agreement, breach of contract, fraud or misrepresentation, negligence, gross negligence, malpractice, or claims based on any departure from accepted medical or health care or safety standards, as well as any and all claims for equitable relief or claims based on contract, tort, statute, warranty, or any alleged breach, default, negligence, wantonness, fraud, misrepresentation, suppression of fact, or inducement....
In the event a court having jurisdiction finds any portion of this agreement unenforceable, that portion shall not be effective and the remainder of the agreement shall remain effective....
It is the intention of the parties to this Arbitration Agreement that it shall inure to the benefit of and bind the parties, their successors, and assigns, including without limitation the agents, employees and servants of [GLC], and [970]*970all persons whose claim is derived through or on behalf of the [Meskill], including any parent, spouse, sibling, child, guardian, executor, legal representative, administrator, or heir of [Mes-kill]. The parties further intend that ■this agreement is to survive the lives or existence of the parties hereto....
THE PARTIES UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT THIS CONTRACT CONTAINS A BINDING ARBITRATION PROVISION WHICH MAY BE ENFORCED BY THE PARTIES, AND THAT BY ENTERING INTO THIS ARBITRATION AGREEMENT, THE PARTIES ARE GIVING UP AND WAIVING THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO HAVE ANY CLAIM DECIDED IN A COURT OF LAW BEFORE A JUDGE AND A JURY, AS WELL AS ANY APPEAL FROM A DECISION OR AWARD OF DAMAGES.

(Bohnen Aff. Ex. C (emphasis in original).)

According to the Complaint, as a result of GLC’s negligence, Howard Meskill fell down numerous times between September 9, 2009 (the date of his admission to GLC) and January 25, 2010. (Compl. ¶¶ 17-35.) The last fall caused him to strike the floor with his head, resulting in a laceration, neck pain, and difficulty moving his right arm. (Id. ¶ 34.) It was later revealed that he had suffered vertebral fractures from that fall. (Id.) Three days later, he died as a result of those fractures. (Id. ¶ 36.)

On April 4, 2012, Bruce .Meskill commenced this action against GLC, seeking damages for the alleged negligence. Clearly anticipating that GLC would invoke the Arbitration Agreement, the Complaint alleged that said agreement “is not enforceable because the [NAF] is not available as a forum.” (Id. ¶ 14.) GLC now tests the merit of that assertion and moves to compel arbitration of the instant dispute.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

The Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”), 9 U.S.C. § 1 et seq., was enacted in 1925 in response to judicial hostility to arbitration. CompuCredit, 132 S.Ct. at 668; Green Tree Fin. Corp.-Ala. v. Randolph, 531 U.S. 79, 89, 121 S.Ct. 513, 148 L.Ed.2d 373 (2000). It provides that ah arbitration provision in “a contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce ... shall be valid, irrevocable, and enforceable, save upon such grounds as exist at law or in equity for the revocation of any contract.” 9 U.S.C. § 2. The Act establishes a “liberal federal policy favoring arbitration agreements.” Moses H. Cone Mem’l Hosp. v. Mercury Constr. Corp., 460 U.S. 1, 24, 103 S.Ct. 927, 74 L.Ed.2d 765 (1983). Both parties agree that the Arbitration Agreement in this case is a “contract evidencing a transaction involving commerce” and, hence, is subject to the FAA. (See Def. Mem. at 5-7; Mem. in Opp’n at 4-5.)2

Where, as here, a party believes that a lawsuit is subject to arbitration, it may move for an order staying the case and compelling arbitration. 9 U.S.C. § 3.3 [971]*971In deciding whether to grant such a motion, two questions must be answered. First, is there a valid agreement to arbitrate between the parties? Second, if such an agreement exists, does the dispute fall within its scope? E.g., Express Scripts, Inc. v. Aegon Direct Mktg. Servs., Inc.,

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Bluebook (online)
862 F. Supp. 2d 966, 2012 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 72798, 2012 WL 1901490, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/meskill-v-ggnsc-stillwater-greeley-llc-mnd-2012.