I’m Wendy York from the York Law Firm in Sacramento.
Here’s a common situation:
When you or your loved one were admitted to a nursing home or skilled nursing facility, you were probably given a stack of papers to sign. I’ve seen some cases where clients had to sign 100 pages! The admitting staff will just say, “Sign here, sign here, sign here…” With that many documents, there’s no time to know what you’re signing.
I can assure you that somewhere buried in that stack of papers is an arbitration clause agreement which states that in the event of any dispute, the person signing gives up the right to a jury trial and gives up their right to sue in a court of law.
Instead, these documents state that the parties – you and the nursing facility – are agreeing to go to binding arbitration. In many cases, the agreement will even state the name of the arbitrator they will be required to use!
As I stated in an earlier video, compulsory arbitration is good for corporations but it is unequivocally bad for individuals.
How do you know if you signed up for binding arbitration? Go through the copies of all the documents you received from the nursing facility. Very likely, you’ll see it there. If you don’t have access to those documents, or if you can’t find them, ask the administrator of the facility to send you a copy of the binding arbitration agreement. You don’t have to ask if there is a binding arbitration agreement – almost certainly there is. On the odd chance that there isn’t one, the administrator will tell you. Otherwise, get a copy of that agreement because you’ll want to refer to it when you send the facility a letter revoking your signature. In an upcoming video, I’ll explain how to do that.
If you have concerns about a loved one in a care facility, please give us a call at York Law Firm.
I’m Wendy York from York Law Firm in Sacramento. Thank you for watching.