Business, Government Legal News from throughout WVUS Supreme Court takes up WV nursing home arbitration cases

In a Feb. 21 opinion, the nation's highest court overturned a West Virginia Supreme Court ruling dealing with nursing home arbitration in three consolidated cases.

The originally separate cases were brought by Clayton Brown, Jeffrey Taylor and Sharon Marchio, against Marmet Health Care Center, Clarksburg Nursing Home & Rehabilitation Center and the Clarksburg Continuous Care Center.

All three cases claim negligence resulting in the death of family members. According to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion, plaintiffs in all three cases signed a contract that included a clause requiring parties to arbitrate all disputes.

According to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Brown's and Taylor's cases originally were dismissed by state courts based on agreements to arbitrate. The cases were later consolidated by the West Virginia Supreme Court.

The West Virginia Supreme Court held in a June ruling that arbitration agreements applying to claims of personal injury or wrongful death unenforceable.

According to the Feb. 21 opinion, West Virginia Supreme Court justices concluded the Federal Arbitration Act did not preempt state public policy. 

State Supreme Court justices ruled that Congress did not intend the Federal Arbitration Act to be applicable to personal injury or wrongful death suits.

"The state court held that as a matter of public policy under West Virginia law, an arbitration clause in a nursing home admission agreement adopted prior to an occurrence of negligence that results in a personal injury or wrongful death, shall not be enforced to compel arbitration of a dispute concerning the negligence," the Feb. 21 opinion stated.

U.S. Supreme Court justices said this decision was done by "misreading and disregarding the precedents of this court interpreting the (Federal Arbitration Act)."

"The West Virginia court's interpretation of the (Federal Arbitration Act) was both incorrect and inconsistent with clear instruction in the precedents of the court," the U.S. Supreme Court opinion stated.

The opinion stated that the act does not provide an exception for personal injury or wrongful death claims.

Now, the state's Supreme Court must consider whether arbitration clauses in Brown's and Taylor's cases are unenforceable under state law preempted by the Federal Arbitration Act, the opinion stated.