Court Voids Arbitration Clause Signed by Daughter, Preserving Memory-Care Elder-Abuse Claims
Won by Needham Kepner & Fish LLP.
Kirsten Fish of Needham Kepner and Fish secured a published California Court of Appeal ruling holding that a memory-care facility could not force an elder-abuse lawsuit into arbitration because the resident's daughter had no legal authority to sign away her mother's rights.
What happened
Theresa D. moved into Muirwoods Memory Care, a residential facility operated by MBK Senior Living, in July 2020. She had dementia and could not manage her own affairs. Her son, Raymond Donahue, held her general power of attorney. When Theresa was admitted, her daughter Kellie Tennier, not her son, signed the facility's admission paperwork, which included a broad arbitration clause.
Over the following months, Theresa suffered four falls. The last one fractured her hip. Staff also allowed conditions that led to a scabies infection, and sanitation problems were documented inside the facility. Donahue filed suit on his mother's behalf, alleging elder abuse and neglect under California law.
MBK moved to compel arbitration, pointing to Tennier's signature on the admission agreement. Tennier had no durable power of attorney, no conservatorship order, and no formal written authorization from Theresa. She had simply arranged her mother's admission as a family member.
The trial court denied the motion. MBK appealed. On November 30, 2021, the California Court of Appeal, First District, Division 3, affirmed in a published opinion reported at 73 Cal.App.5th 18. The court held that a family member acting without legal authority cannot waive a resident's statutory rights, including the right to litigate elder-abuse claims in court. Because Tennier lacked any instrument granting her authority over Theresa's legal affairs, her signature on the arbitration clause did not bind Theresa.
Kirsten Fish of Needham Kepner and Fish, co-counsel with Stebner and Associates, represented the plaintiff on appeal. The published decision is citable precedent in California courts, giving other elder-abuse plaintiffs a tool to resist arbitration enforcement when a family member, rather than a properly authorized agent, signed an admission agreement.
Sources
This account is drawn from contemporaneous public reporting and the court record.
More proven verdicts from Needham Kepner & Fish LLP
All Needham Kepner & Fish LLP proven verdicts →Kirsten Fish of Needham Kepner and Fish was counsel of record for the family in a published 2021 California Court of Appeal opinion that defeated MBK Senior Living's bid to force the MuirWoods Memory Care elder-abuse case into arbitration, preserving the right to a jury trial. That case later went to a Sonoma County jury, which in 2024 returned a $20.58 million verdict for elder abuse and neglect that led to four falls, a broken hip, and the eventual death of a resident with dementia.
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