Bedford Care Center-Monroe Hall, LLC v. Lewis, 923 So. 2d 998 (Miss. 2006)

Conservator initialed pages indicating she read arbitration agreement, but did not sign the agreement. Facility made two attempts to have her sign the arbitration agreement and each time she declined. Resident continued to receive care in the facility. Plaintiff submitted an affidavit stating: “To the best of her memory and knowledge she had a reservation about agreeing to the arbitration provision in the admissions agreement. Therefore, she did not initial the top of page five, nor did she sign at the bottom of page five or the top of page seven. …Approximately one week after returning the packet to Bedford, she received another telephone call stating she had not signed the agreement in certain places. … Bedford returned the admission agreement to Lewis for more signatures. …Lewis initialed the top of page five to signify she had carefully read the arbitration provision. However, she did not agree to the provision and did not sign at the bottom of page five where indicated and highlighted.” Based on these facts, the court found there was no agreement to arbitrate and affirmed the trial court’s denial of the motion to compel.