The Mental Health Matters Act would ban unfair arbitration clauses, class action waivers, discretionary clauses, and representation waivers in ERISA-governed plans. The Mental Health Matters Act would amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act to make mandatory arbitration clauses unenforceable. This would ban pre-dispute arbitration as a condition of joining the plan. A big win
The New York Times had a great article on the scourge of mandatory arbitration clauses in admission paperwork for assisted living facilities. Although arbitration is ubiquitous in modern life, it is unfair in the health care setting. When residents sign these agreements hidden among the dozens of admission pages, the facility tricks them into waiving
Law-abiding nursing home operators have a new complaint. They compete with chains who “engage in exploitative tactics or otherwise break the law.” The disadvantaged facilities blames illegal use of financial guarantees at admission. Media reports indicate the practice is widespread and growing. The nursing home industry’s predatory practices include arbitration and attempting to collect from
“To invalidate or bar enforcement of a contract based on unconscionability, the party challenging the contract must show both an absence of meaningful choice, also referred to as procedural unconscionability, and contract terms that are unreasonably favorable to the other party, known as substantive unconscionability.” The Pennsylvania Superior Court upheld a trial court’s finding that
The Supreme Court in Morgan v. Sundance, Inc. held that a demand for arbitration must be timely raised. Courts should raise waiver if a party fails to raise arbitration at the earliest opportunity. Morgan argued that Sundance waived its right to arbitrate. The Eighth Circuit found no waiver because Morgan was not prejudiced. However, prejudice
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