Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y

381 F. Supp. 3d 1022
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Iowa
DecidedMay 14, 2019
DocketNo. 15-CV-4074-CJW-MAR
StatusPublished

This text of 381 F. Supp. 3d 1022 (Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Iowa primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y, 381 F. Supp. 3d 1022 (N.D. Iowa 2019).

Opinion

C.J. Williams, United States District Judge *1025TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY...1026

A. Proceedings in this Court and Arbitration...1026

B. Certified Questions...1026

C. Second Arbitration Agreement...1027

II. FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT...1028

A. Applicable Law...1028

B. Discussion...1028

III. ISSUE PRECLUSION...1030

IV. PROCEDURAL POSTURE...1036

V. CONCLUSION...1037

This matter is before the Court on the parties' Stipulation for Order Confirming Arbitration Decision and Directing Entry of Judgment Thereon (Doc. 46), and on defendant's Motion Requesting Court to Execute Proposed Order Confirming Arbitration Decision and Directing Entry of Judgment Thereon, in Accordance with the Parties' Stipulation (Doc. 49). As explained more fully infra , the parties jointly submitted a proposed order confirming an arbitration decision, and the parties request that the Court enter that proposed order. (See Docs. 46, 46-3). Although the parties interpret the proposed order differently, both parties now request that the Court enter the proposed order. The Court declines to do so because the proposed order is not clear as to which parties would be subject to final judgment under the order.

The parties have also requested that the Court determine whether the individual plaintiffs' loss of parental consortium claims survive the arbitrator's decision, or whether the arbitrator's decision has a fatally preclusive effect on the individual plaintiffs' claims. The Court finds it appropriate to resolve this issue. The parties submitted briefs on the issue (Docs. 52-54), the Court held a hearing on the issue, and defendant submitted a supplemental brief on the issue, with leave of Court (Doc. 58). Although permitted to do so, plaintiff declined to submit a supplemental brief on the issue. (See Doc. 59).

For the following reasons, the parties' Stipulation for Order Confirming Arbitration Decision and Directing Entry of Judgment Thereon (Doc. 46) is granted to the extent the pleading seeks entry of judgment on Counts I, II, III, and V, denied to the extent the pleading seeks entry of judgment as to Count IV, and denied to the extent the pleading seeks entry of the parties' proposed order (Doc. 46-3). Defendant's individually filed Motion Requesting Court to Execute Proposed Order Confirming Arbitration Decision and Directing Entry of Judgment Thereon, in Accordance with the Parties' Stipulation (Doc. 49) is denied as moot to the extent the pleading seeks entry of judgment on Counts I, II, III, and V, and denied to the remaining extent the pleading constitutes a motion. Summary judgment is rendered in favor of defendant as to Count IV. The Clerk of Court is directed to enter judgment in defendant's favor as to all counts.

*1026I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

A. Proceedings in this Court and Arbitration

Defendant is a long-term care facility that "provided nursing home care and memory care services for Cletus Roth from November 27, 2013[,] through February 27, 2014." (Doc. 30, at 2). Around the time Cletus Roth ("Cletus") was admitted to defendant's facility, Cletus' son, Michael Roth, signed an "Admission Agreement" on Cletus' behalf.1 (See Doc. 46-2, at 1-16). The Admission Agreement contained an arbitration provision providing as follows: "Any legal controversy, dispute, disagreement or claim of any kind arising out of or related to this Admission Agreement, or the breach thereof, or, related to the care of [sic] stay at the Facility, shall be settled exclusively by binding arbitration ...." (Id. , at 14). The arbitration provision also specified that the Federal Arbitration Act, Title 9, United States Code, Section 1, et. seq. , was to govern the arbitration provision and "all proceedings relating to the arbitration of any claim." (Id. , at 15).

Cletus ultimately died, and Cletus' children commenced this action, contending that defendant was responsible for Cletus' death. Mary E. Roth and Michael A. Roth, in their capacities as co-executors of Cletus' Estate brought claims for wrongful death, breach of contract, dependent adult abuse, and punitive damages. (Doc. 3). Mary and Michael Roth, along with their siblings Anna M. Roth and Bradley E. Roth, each brought a claim for loss of parental consortium. (Id. ).

Defendant filed a motion to compel arbitration (Doc. 6), and this Court granted that motion "as to the plaintiff [E]state's claims." Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y , 147 F.Supp.3d 806, 814 (N.D. Iowa 2015) (emphasis omitted). The Court did not compel arbitration as to the individual plaintiffs' loss of consortium claims and, instead, certified two questions to the Iowa Supreme Court regarding the arbitrability of the individual plaintiffs' loss of consortium claims. Id. at 814-15. This Court permitted the parties to "decide for themselves whether to proceed immediately to arbitration of [the Estate's claims] or to await answers to the questions certified ... before doing so." Id. at 814. The parties chose to await the Iowa Supreme Court's opinion before proceeding to arbitration. Ultimately, the arbitrator found that defendant did not act negligently and that judgment should enter in favor of defendant as to those claims that were submitted to the arbitrator. (See Doc. 46-1).

B. Certified Questions

The Iowa Supreme Court answered only one of the certified questions: Does Iowa Code Section 613.15 require that adult children's loss-of-parental-consortium claims be arbitrated when the deceased parent's estate's claims are otherwise subject to arbitration? Roth v. Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Soc'y , 886 N.W.2d 601, 603 (Iowa 2016). In answering the question, the Iowa Supreme Court turned to the facts of this case directly and held that the individual plaintiffs' loss of consortium claims were not subject to arbitration. Id.

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Bluebook (online)
381 F. Supp. 3d 1022, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/roth-v-evangelical-lutheran-good-samaritan-socy-iand-2019.