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Hojnowski v. Vans Skate Park3/10/2005
r v. Travelers Ins. Co., 280 N.J. Super. 254 (App. Div. 1995), although we recognize in that case that the benefit to the child was of greater significance than that accorded here, and the father's right to enter into a contract affecting the welfare of his son was concomitantly stronger. There, we found that a father's contractual agreement to submit underinsured motorist's (UIM) claims to arbitration bound his minor son, who sought UIM coverage as a family member, determining that he was a third party beneficiary of the contract. We stated:
In this case, the optional nature of UIM benefits under N.J.S.A. 17:28-1.1b, and the absence of a statute exempting minors from arbitration, requires plaintiff's rights to be analyzed under contract principles. The third-party nature of plaintiff's benefits and his father's attempt to provide for plaintiff's welfare fully warrant binding plaintiff to the arbitration provision. [Id. at 263.]
See also, e.g., Leong v. Kaiser Found. Hosp's, 788 P.2d 164, 169 (Haw. 1990) (infant was bound by arbitration provision in contract for group medical services); Doyle v. Giuliucci, 401 P.2d 1, 3 (Cal. 1965) (same).
In reaching the conclusion to enforce the arbitration provision of the Vans contract, we choose not to follow the decision of the Florida District Court of Appeals in Shea v. Global Travel Marketing, Inc., 870 So. 2d 20 (Fla. App. 2003), review granted, 873 So. 2d 1223 (Fla. 2004), which held under Florida law that a contractual waiver by a mother of her son's right to sue a commercial safari operator for potential personal injury claims, and to subject them to arbitration, was contrary to public policy, but that a similar waiver relating to the activities of a non-profit entity would not be void. Id. at 25.
In Shea, as here, the waiver signed by the mother limited the liability of the safari company as well as subjected any claims against it to arbitration. The court's decision that the agreement was unenforceable was, in large measure, based upon the mother's waiver of remedies, not her choice of forum. The court never articulated why public policy disfavors arbitration, per se, in the context presented--a proposition for which we find no support in New Jersey precedent, which as we have recognized, strongly favors that form of alternative dispute resolution. We note additionally that the Shea court certified to the Florida Supreme Court the question of"whether a parent's agreement in a commercial travel contract to binding arbitration on behalf of a minor child with respect to prospective tort claims arising in the course of such travel is enforceable as to the minor." Because the Supreme Court has granted review and its decision remains pending, we cannot view the existing decision in Shea even as a dispositive statement of Florida law.
We recognize that a split of authority exists as to the resolution of cases such as these. See generally Douglas P. Gerber, Note, The Validity of Binding Arbitration Agreements and Children's Personal Injury Claims in Florida After Shea v. Global Travel Marketing, Inc., 28 Nova L.Rev. 167, 170-77 (Fall 2003) (discussing reported and unreported decisions). An unreported decision in Troshak v. Terminix Internat. Co., 1998 WL 401693 (E.D.Pa. 1998) resembles Shea, in that it does not meaningfully distinguish between choice of forum and limitation of remedies in its holding that Pennsylvania courts, if they addressed the issue, would find that:"If a parent cannot prospectively release the potential claims of a minor child, then a parent does not have the authority to bind a minor child to an arbitration provision that requires the minor to waive their right to have potential claims for pers
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