It’s been more than a year since Santa Clara nursing home patient Connie Delucca allegedly bludgeoned her 98-year-old roommate, Vera Plares, ultimately causing Plares’ death, and we’re now learning why the nursing home’s staff put the two in a room together. According to court documents, Mission Skilled Nursing and Subacute Care staff placed Plares in Delucca’s room because they figured Plares would not “annoy” Delucca.
Plares died from her injuries in December 2023 after a 20 hour delay by the nursing home. Mission wants the case to be forced into arbitration because there was an arbitration clause in the agreement Plares signed when she was admitted. They assert that Plares was competent to sign the contract and signed it of her own free will. Mission says medical malpractice and negligence can be contractually arbitrated.
The nursing home has appealed a judge’s ruling denying arbitration in the case, and the case is unlikely to be heard for months. The family filed its lawsuit in April 2024, naming three interlocking LLCs: Mission Skilled Nursing, Covenant Care and Suncrest. (We refer to the three as “Mission.”)
Judge: Arbitration Agreement “Unconscionable”
Superior Court Judge Roberta S. Hayashi wasn’t persuaded by Mission’s arguments for forcing arbitration, ruling in March that the arbitration agreement was “unconscionable” — a contract so one-sided and unfair that it’s considered unenforceable…