New York case looks whether plaintiff could read and understand the agreement and held for the defendant.

Ayzenberg v Bronx House Emauel Campus, Inc., etc., 93 A.D.3d 607; 941 N.Y.S.2d 106; 2012 N.Y. App. Div. LEXIS 2316; 2012 NY Slip Op 2396

The court also looked at the arbitration clause in the release and found it required arbitration.

This is another short New York Decision that was decided by the New York Appellate Court. The plaintiffs sustained an unknown injury while attending or staying at the defendant’s camp facility. The plaintiffs filed a complaint, and the defendants moved to compel arbitration as required in the application.

Summary of the case

The lower court denied the defendant’s motion to compel arbitration, and the defendant appealed. The plaintiff argued three theories on why the arbitration clause did not apply to them.

The first was a “language barrier” kept the plaintiffs from understanding what they were signing and that there was an arbitration clause. The court held the parties were bound by the agreement, including the arbitration clause even though they did not understand it.

The second was only the husband signed the agreement. The wife argued the husband could not sign for her. However, the court held the wife was bound by the agreement because the husband at the very least had apparent authority to sign for her. Apparent authority is an agency type of argument where by the actions of one party acting on behalf of the other party the defendant relied on the actions believing the first party had authority to act for the second party. The second party also took advantage of the benefits of the agreement or failed to reject the agreement and therefore, cannot reject the agreement now or say the first party could not sign on their behalf.

If you act like you are responsible and no one questions your authority, including the person you say you are responsible of, you are responsible.

The final argument put forth by the plaintiff was the agreement compelled arbitration by the Commercial Rules of the American Arbitration Association, and the claims of the plaintiffs were personal not commercial. Here the court found the argument failed because the agreement said the parties had to arbitrate any dispute between them.

So Now What?

The first thing that caught my eye was the plaintiffs did not understand the agreement, but understood enough English to get an attorney.

Arbitration is cheaper, faster and normally arbitrators can only award limited damages. Arbitration is usually a great idea. Always combine arbitration with mediation. The parties to an agreement must mediate their dispute first. If that does not work, then they can arbitrate.

Arbitration may have one downfall, and that would be in a state that supports releases. Arbitration is cheaper than a trial; it still usually ends up awarding the plaintiff some money. If your release is solid, you may want to avoid arbitration and rely on your release. It could be faster and probably cheaper. However, it is always a toss-up that you should review with your attorney.

The other point is the plaintiff signed the agreement with a language barrier. This different from signing and not reading the agreement or arguing you did not understand the agreement which courts always throw out. This is a great decision. Whether or not you can rely on it in your state is still, I suspect, up in the air.

However, this is a start.

Jim Moss is an attorney specializing in the legal issues of the outdoor recreation community. He represents guides, guide services, outfitters both as businesses and individuals and the products they use for their business. He has defended Mt. Everest guide services, summer camps, climbing rope manufacturers; avalanche beacon manufactures and many more manufacturers and outdoor industries. Contact Jim at Jim@Rec-Law.us

Jim is the author or co-author of six books about the legal issues in the outdoor recreation world; the latest is Outdoor Recreation Insurance, Risk Management and Law.

To see Jim’s complete bio go here and to see his CV you can find it here. To find out the purpose of this website go here.

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