Souden v. PacifiCare Life and Health Ins. Co. CA2/
Randall Souden sued PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company for wrongful death, alleging his domestic partner, Robert Carey-Hogue, died after PacifiCare refused in bad faith to pay for life-saving medical treatment. PacifiCare petitioned to compel arbitration of the wrongful death claim based on an arbitration provision in Carey-Hogue’s health care services contract. The court denied the petition, concluding PacifiCare had waived its right to arbitrate by participating in litigation with Souden and Carey-Hogue prior to Carey-Hogue’s death. On appeal PacifiCare contends the court erred in considering the prior litigation in conducting its waiver analysis, an issue we need not decide. Because Souden had not agreed to arbitrate his individual wrongful death claim with PacifiCare and no statutory exception to mutual assent exists that would require Souden, as a nonsignatory to Carey-Hogue’s arbitration agreement, to arbitrate his wrongful death claim, we affirm the order den
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