Adams Cmty. Care Ctr., LLC v. Reed
| Docket Number: | 2009-CA-00730-SCT Linked Case(s): 2009-CA-00730-SCT |
|
| Supreme Court: | Opinion Link Opinion Date: 04-15-2010 Opinion Author: Lamar, J. Holding: Affirmed |
|
| Additional Case Information: |
Topic: Personal injury - Arbitration agreement - Authority - Section 41-21-211 - Health-care surrogate - Third party beneficiary Judge(s) Concurring: Waller, C.J., Carlson, P.J., Dickinson, Randolph, Kitchens, Chandler and Pierce, JJ. Concurs in Result Only: Graves, P.J., Without Separate Written Opinion. Procedural History: Motion to Compel Arbitration Nature of the Case: CIVIL - PERSONAL INJURY |
|
| Trial Court: |
Date of Trial Judgment: 12-22-2008 Appealed from: Adams County Circuit Court Judge: Lillie Blackmon Sanders Disposition: The trial court found that, under the plain terms of the arbitration provision, James and Larry Wesley were not required to agree to arbitration for their mother to be admitted. The trial court concluded that accepting the arbitration provision was not part of a health-care decision. Case Number: 05-KV-0246 |
|
| Party Name: | Attorney Name: | Brief(s) Available: | ||
| Appellant: | Adams Community Care Center, LLC d/b/a Adams County Nursing Center, Adams County Nursing Center, Magnolia Management Corporation d/b/a Magnolia Ancillary Services, Inc., Comm-Care Mississippi d/b/a Adams Comm-Care, LLC and Edward E. Crow, Administrator |
ROLAND F. SAMSON, III |
|
|
| Appellee: | Sheila Reed, as Personal Representative and Conservator of Annie Reed | ROBERT L. COOPER, III, JOHN G. (TRAE) SIMS, III | ||
Synopsis provided by:  If you are interested in subscribing to the weekly synopses of all Mississippi Supreme Court and Court of Appeals hand downs please contact Tammy Upton in the MLI Press office. |
|
| Topic: | Personal injury - Arbitration agreement - Authority - Section 41-21-211 - Health-care surrogate - Third party beneficiary |
| Summary of the Facts: | When Annie Reed was admitted to Adams County Nursing Center, James Wesley signed the admissions agreement as the responsible party for his mother. Several months later, Larry Wesley signed a second, identical admissions agreement as the responsible party for his mother. Each agreement contains an arbitration provision. A year later, Sheila Reed filed a complaint as personal representative and conservator to her mother, Annie Reed, alleging claims of nursing-home negligence and gross negligence against Adams County Nursing Center and various defendants. The defendants filed a motion to dismiss, to compel arbitration and to stay which the court denied. The trial court found that, under the plain terms of the arbitration provision, James and Larry Wesley were not required to agree to arbitration for their mother to be admitted. ACNC appeals. |
| Summary of Opinion Analysis: | Issue 1: Authority Under section 41-21-211, a surrogate may make a health-care decision for a patient who is an adult or emancipated minor if the patient has been determined by the primary physician to lack capacity and no agent or guardian has been appointed or the agent or guardian is not reasonably available. Thus, absent a designation, in order for James or Larry Wesley to act as a surrogate for health-care purposes, their mother’s primary physician must have first determined that Annie Reed lacked capacity. Because there is no evidence that a primary physician found Annie Reed to be incapacitated, neither James nor Larry Wesley had authority to act as a health-care surrogate. ACNC argues that James and Larry Wesley had apparent authority because they represented to the nursing home that each was the responsible party for Annie Reed. In order to recover under a theory of apparent authority, the claimant must put forth sufficient evidence of acts or conduct of the principal indicating the agent’s authority, reasonable reliance upon those acts by a third person, and a detrimental change in position by the third person as a result of that reliance. Here, the record is devoid of any action on the part of Annie Reed indicating that either of her sons was her agent for the purpose of making health-care decisions. Issue 2: Third party beneficiary ACNC argues that Annie Reed is a third-party beneficiary to the admissions agreement, which was signed by ACNC and Reed’s sons. For a third-party beneficiary to exist, there must first exist a valid contract executed by one with legal capacity to enter the contract. ACNC has failed to put forth any evidence of James or Larry Wesley’s legal capacity to execute the admissions agreement. |
Home | Terms of Use | About the JDP | Feedback | Using JDP | MC Law Library | Mississippi Supreme Court
