Harbaugh v. BKD Arbors of Santa Rosa CA1/1

California Court of Appeal Dec 13, 2023 No. A168599Unpublished

AI Brief

AI-generated · verify before citing

Holding. The court held that a spouse lacks the authority to bind a resident to an optional arbitration agreement within a residential care facility contract based solely on marital status or fiduciary duties. Because the arbitration agreement was optional and the resident did not seek to enforce it, the resident is not estopped from challenging its validity.

Issues

Whether a spouse has the authority to bind a resident to an arbitration agreement based on fiduciary duties to provide care.
Whether a resident is estopped from challenging an arbitration agreement contained within a residency agreement when the resident accepted the benefits of the residency agreement.

Disposition. affirmed

Quotations verified verbatim against the opinion

“spouses are fiduciaries and owe a duty of support in the family law context,” but it concluded that “these duties do not create a power to contractually bind each other in the agency context.”

“To conclude that Harbaugh is estopped from challenging the arbitration agreement merely because it was not contained in a separate document would elevate form over substance.”

Filed 12/13/23 Harbaugh v. BKD Arbors of Santa Rosa CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

ROBERT HARBAUGH et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, A168599 v. BKD ARBORS OF SANTA ROSA, (Sonoma County LLC, et al., Super. Ct. No. SCV-272523) Defendants and Appellants.

Robert Harbaugh, who was 82 years old and had dementia and Parkinson’s disease, was admitted to a residential care facility. He died a few months later, after suffering several falls. Harbaugh’s wife and children (collectively, plaintiffs) sued the facility and associated entities (collectively, defendants), alleging claims on both Harbaugh’s behalf and their own.1 Defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration of all the causes of action, based on an arbitration agreement in the residency agreement Harbaugh’s wife signed when Harbaugh was admitted to the residential care facility. The trial court denied the motion, holding that Harbaugh’s wife did

1 Plaintiffs are Harbaugh’s wife, his daughter, and his five sons,

including one who is his successor-in-interest. Defendants are BKD Arbors of Santa Rosa, LLC d/b/a Brookdale Chanate (Brookdale Chanate), Brookdale Senior Living Communities, Inc., and Brookdale Senior Living, Inc.

not have authority to bind him to arbitration. On appeal from this ruling, defendants argue that Harbaugh’s wife did have such authority and Harbaugh is estopped from claiming the arbitration agreement is unenforceable. We affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND As alleged in the complaint, Harbaugh was admitted to Brookdale Chanate, a Santa Rosa residential care facility for the elderly, in mid- September 2021. Harbaugh’s wife “no longer felt she was able to adequately provide him with the care he needed,” with falls being a particular concern. Brookdale Chanate assessed Harbaugh as having a high risk for falling but “failed to actually generate any real plan or identify concrete interventions that would protect [him] from falling.” Harbaugh then sustained serious falls, requiring hospital visits, in late September and mid-October. Later in October, after the hospital refused to discharge him to Brookdale Chanate, he was transferred to another facility. His “condition continued to deteriorate,” and he died on November 19, 2021. Plaintiffs sued defendants in January 2023. The complaint alleges causes of action for elder neglect, negligence, and constructive fraud on Harbaugh’s behalf and negligent infliction of emotional distress and wrongful death on plaintiffs’ own behalf. After answering the complaint, defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration of all the claims. The motion to compel arbitration rested on a 17-page “Residency Agreement” between Brookdale Chanate and Harbaugh (residency agreement), which Harbaugh’s wife signed as his “Legal Representative.” The agreement contains a typed provision identifying her legal authority to sign as “Healthcare Power of Attorney.” It is undisputed on appeal that in

Harbaugh v. BKD Arbors of Santa Rosa CA1/1

AI Brief

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

More from California Court of Appeal

Related research

AI Brief