No Authority To Sign Here Either. And BTW Who’s Looking After Mom?

An 88 year old woman patient in a skilled nursing facility was hospitalized after a stroke. She woke up one night with her catheter removed, her call button unplugged, her gown off, an unknown male assistant looking down on her naked body and saying to her “This is why I love my job.” The woman developed unexplained pain and bruising to her vaginal area, inner thigh and pelvis region. She tested positive for genital herpes. She brought an action against the owners of the facility for various causes of action, all stemming from an alleged failure to provide a safe environment. When she was 90 years old, she moved the court for trial preference under Code of Civil Procedure section 36(a), which defendants opposed, claiming she didn’t have a medical issue warranting preference and the case was not at issue. Defendants then petitioned the court to send the matter to arbitration under the arbitration agreement signed by plaintiff’s daughter. The trial court denied the petition, and the appellate court agreed that the daughter lacked authority to sign the agreement for her mother. (Young v. Horizon West, Inc. (Cal. App. Sixth Dist.; October 28, 2013) 220 Cal.App.4th 1122, [163 Cal.Rptr.3d 704].)