BONNIE MARIE COTTRELL, ETC. VS. NATHAN HOLTZBERG, M.D, ET AL. (L-5557-16, MIDDLESEX COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-3976-19)
Defendant Bey Lea Village Care Center owned and operated a nursing facility where Maryann Cottrell was a patient. She signed an arbitration agreement upon her admission in 2017, was there for twenty days and discharged. She was admitted to Bey Lea again in early 2018 where she resided for ten months until her death. Maryann Cottrell did not sign an arbitration agreement for the 2018 admission. While she was a resident in 2018, Bey Lea sold the nursing facility to defendant Complete Care at Bey Lea, LLC. Defendants claim the 2017 arbitration agreement applies to the 2018 admission.
The court affirms the order denying arbitration of issues arising from the 2018 admission. The court concludes there was no arbitration agreement for the 2018 admission and the 2017 agreement did not apply. Although the 2017 arbitration agreement included a clause delegating to an arbitrator the ability to decide "gateway disputes regarding the enforceability, validity, severability and/or interpretation" of the arbitration agreement, it was for a judge —not an arbitrator— to decide whether the 2017 arbitration agreement applied to the 2018 admission. The 2017 agreement did not apply because Maryann Cottrell did not assent to arbitrate disputes about the 2018 admission.
