Holland v. Silverscreen Healthcare, Inc. (August 14, 2025, S285429) _ Cal.5th __ [2025 WL 2349863]
Plaintiffs’ son, a dependent adult, was admitted for inpatient care and died at a nursing facility operated by defendant. Plaintiffs filed a wrongful death suit, claiming that defendant’s negligence proximately caused their son’s death. Defendant filed a motion to compel arbitration pursuant to an arbitration agreement signed by decedent in compliance with Code of Civil Procedure section 1295, a provision of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA).
The trial court denied the motion as to plaintiffs’ wrongful death claim. The Court of Appeal reversed, holding that plaintiffs’ wrongful death claim is covered by the MICRA arbitration agreement because it is necessarily a claim about the defendant’s professional healthcare services.
The Supreme Court reversed the Court of Appeal decision. The Court restricted the scope of its prior decision in Ruiz v. Podolsky (2010) 50 Cal.4th 838, which held that a patient-signed arbitration agreement in compliance with section 1295 can bind the patient’s heirs in a wrongful death action. The Court held that section 1295 did not apply to arbitration of plaintiff’s wrongful death claim because that claim was based on custodial neglect under the Elder Abuse Act not involving allegations of medical malpractice. Courts will distinguish “acts or omissions by skilled nursing facility in its capacity as a health care provider” from those pursuant to the facility’s custodial duty to “provide basic necessities.” “Ruiz does not require plaintiffs to arbitrate their disputes about a facility’s neglect of a resident’s basic welfare and safety needs.”
