 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Estate of Agee v. Age Institute of Florida11/15/2005
We reverse the trial court's order compelling arbitration in this suit by the estate of William Agee against numerous individual and corporate defendants associated with the Bay Center nursing home in Panama City, where Mr. Agee was a resident. The complaint asserted various common law and statutory causes of action, including negligence, wrongful death and violations of Mr. Agee's rights as a nursing home resident under chapter 400, Florida Statutes. Relying on arbitration clauses in two contracts between the various corporate defendants for financial and management services, the trial court compelled arbitration of the claims against the appellees. We conclude that the Estate's claims and any duties the appellees may have owed to Mr. Agee were not based on these contracts. Nor was Mr. Agee, who was not a signatory to the contracts, an intended third-party beneficiary of the agreements. Therefore, the Estate's claims were not subject to the arbitration provisions in the contracts. See Estate of Germann v. Age Institute of Florida, Inc., et al., - So. 2d -, 2005 WL 292348, 30 Fla. L. Weekly D383 (Fla. 2d DCA February 9, 2005); Extendicare Health Services, Inc. v. Estate of Patterson, 898 So. 2d 989 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005).
Reversed.
C.J. KAHN, WOLF and PADOVANO, JJ., CONCUR.
|