Condee v. Longwood Management Corp.

Opinion

RYLAARSDAM, J.

Defendants Longwood Management Corp. (case No. G027263) and Ira David Enterprises, Inc. (case No. G027773) appeal from a

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denial of their petitions to compel arbitration for failure to authenticate the alleged arbitration agreement; Longwood Management also appeals from the denial of its motion to reconsider. We conclude the court erred in denying the petitions and reverse.

Facts

Joaquin Penilla was a resident of Parkhurst Retirement Residence (Parkhurst), a residential care facility. Upon commencement of Penilla’s residence at Parkhurst, Penilla’s sister, plaintiff Marta Felix Condee, allegedly signed an arbitration agreement in his name. The agreement purported to bind the parties to arbitration for any dispute, “including actions for injury or death arising from facilities negligence,” but excluding “disputes pertaining to collections and evictions.” Penilla slipped and fell in the Parkhurst facility. After considerable time spent in medical facilities, he died.

Condee and Brenda Yates, Penilla’s heirs, sued Longwood Management Corp. (Longwood), the company operating Parkhurst, for wrongful death. The complaint alleged general negligence, negligent supervision, premises liability and medical malpractice. A Doe amendment added Ira David Enterprises, Inc. (Ira David), a company doing business as Parkhurst, as codefendant.

After conducting some discovery, Longwood filed a petition to compel arbitration and stay the current action. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 1281.2, 1281.4; unless otherwise indicated, all further statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure.) The court denied the petition after finding the alleged arbitration agreement was not properly authenticated, and denying Long-wood’s proffer of a declaration from Virginia Hawkins, Parkhurst’s custodian of records, which purported to authenticate the agreement. Longwood thereafter filed a motion to reconsider the petition (§ 1008), contending the Hawkins declaration was a new fact not before the court when it denied the petition. This motion was denied.

Two months later, Ira David also filed a petition to compel arbitration and stay the proceedings; it moved the court to take judicial notice of documents including the Hawkins declaration. Plaintiffs opposed the petition contending, among other things, Ira David was bound by the denial of Longwood’s petition. The court denied the petition on the basis it was merely a refiling of Longwood’s earlier petition.