Professional Negligence Law Reporter

A South Carolina appellate court held that a deceased nursing home resident’s granddaughter was not bound by the arbitration provision in the residency agreement between the grandmother and the facility.

Bonnie Walker, a resident of Brookdale Charleston, wandered out of the facility six weeks after her admission. The next morning, staff realized that Walker had gone missing and notified her family. Walker’s granddaughter, Stephanie Walker Weaver, searched the nursing home area and discovered Walker’s body had been dismembered by an alligator near a retention pond.

In her individual capacity, Weaver sued Brookdale, its parent company, and its administrator, alleging negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The defendants moved to compel arbitration and to dismiss. The trial court denied the motions.

Affirming, the appellate court noted that to compel arbitration, the defense must show that a valid arbitration agreement exists and that the plaintiff’s claims fall within its scope. The court found that although courts favor arbitration, the presumption in favor of arbitration applies only to the scope of the arbitration agreement, not to the existence of an agreement or the identity of the parties who are covered by it.

The court rejected the defense’s argument that the theory of equitable estoppel, or direct benefits estoppel, justifies binding arbitration of the plaintiff’s claims. The theory prevents a nonsignatory to an arbitration agreement from refusing to comply with the contract’s terms where the nonsigner’s claims arise from the contractual relationship, the nonsigner has benefited from the contract, and the claims rely solely on the contract to impose liability. Here, the court reasoned that the plaintiff’s claims, including her allegation that the defendants had mishandled Walker’s remains and failed to warn about the dangers of the alligator pond, invoke general tort duties owed by the defendants and do not relate to any provision in Walker’s residency agreement. Finally, the court said, the plaintiff has not sought to enforce or benefit from the residency agreement in that her contact with the facility was limited to when she called them to the scene of her grandmother’s death.

Consequently, the court found that no valid arbitration agreement existed between the plaintiff and the defense and that equitable estoppel did not bind the plaintiff to arbitration. Denial of the defendants’ motion to arbitrate was therefore proper.

Citation: Weaver v. Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., 2020 WL 4342679 (S.C. Ct. App. July 29, 2020).

Plaintiff counsel: AAJ members Kenneth L. Connor and Christopher C. Connor, both of Aiken, S.C.; and AAJ member Eliza H. Cantwell and Joshua P. Cantwell, both of Charleston, S.C.