Beverly Enterprises-Mississippi, Inc. v. Powell, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8739 (D. Miss. 2006)

Facility sought to compel arbitration after suit was filed. Resident was alone when admitted to the facility. He was illiterate, but purportedly executed an arbitration agreement. Although illiteracy alone will not invalidate an arbitration agreement, the Estate contended that the resident did not place the “X” on the agreement and the facility employees could not recall with specificity which documents he marked. Further, one of the employees testified in deposition that she may have failed to inform the resident he was signing an arbitration agreement, which may constitute fraud in the inducement. The court found there was sufficient evidence to indicate that the resident may not have agreed to arbitration and denied the motion to compel. Decided: February 16, 2006.