Williams v. West Coast Hospitals, Inc. (Dec. 22, 2022, H049177) __ Cal.App.5th __ [2022 WL 17881773]
Ann Williams was admitted to a West Coast Hospital center to recover from hip surgery. West Coast discharged her to an assisted living facility where she died five days later. Williams’ son (and other family members) sued West Coast for elder abuse and wrongful death, alleging that its failure to nourish and hydrate Williams cause fatal renal failure. The trial court granted West Coast’s motion to compel arbitration, which stayed the litigation, but West Coast then failed to pay its arbitration filing fee on time. Plaintiffs moved for an order vacating the litigation stay based on their election to withdraw from arbitration under Code of Civil Procedure sections 1281.97 and 1281.98 (because West Coast had not timely paid arbitration fees). Although West Coast belatedly paid its fees, the trial court granted the motion. West Coast appealed.
The Court of Appeal affirmed. First, the court rejected West Coast’s argument that withdrawal was not permitted until the arbitrator found the drafting party was in default. The court held instead that the statutes empower consumers who are parties to arbitration agreements to unilaterally withdraw from arbitration upon the drafting party’s failure to pay required fees. The court also rejected West Coast’s argument that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to vacate its own stay order, explaining that the trial court’s vestigial jurisdiction over the action at law allowed it to vacate the litigation stay once plaintiffs withdrew from the arbitration. Finally, the court refused to draw a distinction between voluntary and mandatory arbitration agreements, holding the withdrawal statutes applied equally to both.
Prepared by H. Thomas Watson and Peder K. Batalden, Horvitz & Levy, LLP
California Society for Healthcare Attorneys
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