Mariner Healthcare, Inc. v. King, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 40782 (D. Miss. 2006)

Defendant moved to compel arbitration pursuant to the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 4. Under 5th Circuit precedent, the court must first determine whether the parties agreed to arbitrate and whether the dispute in question falls within the scope of the agreement. Here, the resident’s daughter signed the arbitration agreement without a power of attorney. Citing Mariner Healthcare, Inc. v. Green, 2006 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37479 (D. Miss. 2006), the court denied Defendant’s motion finding that Mariner failed to show that the daughter had authority to sign away her father’s legal right to a jury trial.