Personal Injury Law

Nursing Home Arbitration Clauses in Maryland

One case I have been meaning to write about for a few months is Dickerson v. Longoria, a recent Maryland nursing home opinion.

The ultimate issue in Dickerson is whether a family member had the authority to bind a nursing home patient by agreeing to an arbitration clause. The Maryland Court of Appeals found that the relative did not.

But the larger issue is whether Maryland law allows for enforcement of a nursing home negligence arbitration agreement. I think it is hard to argue that a waiver signed at admission even if signed by the patient is a knowing, intelligent, and voluntary waiver of one of our most fundamental constitutional rights: the right to a jury trial.

The Maryland high court does not address this issue but also does not raise the issue. Some will interpret this as a sign that the court did not question a Maryland nursing home?s right to enforce arbitration clauses with its residents. I think this is the wrong interpretation because courts only need to decide the issue in front of them. Still, it would have been nice to see a footnote questioning the entire premise of nursing home arbitration agreements.

This case underscores the unfairness of these nursing home agreements in Maryland. One notable example: the nursing home in Dickerson reserved for itself the exclusive right to select an arbitrator. Maryland just should not allow nursing homes to stack the deck in their favor because someone - most likely under some duress - signed a small print arbitration clause upon admission to a nursing home.

You can find the full opinion here. Normally, I link to the Maryland appellate opinion site but I really think it is easier to read this opinion on Google Scholar.

Full post as published by Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog on August 09, 2010 (boomark / email).