Clanton v. Oakbrook Healthcare Centre, Ltd., 226 N.E.3d 1266

Laurel Jansen was admitted to Oakbrook Healthcare on July 19, 2019; her healthcare POA, Debbie Kotalik, signed the facility’s admission contract on August 9, 2019.
The contract required mandatory mediation then binding arbitration (JAMS) for "all civil claims arising in any way out of this Agreement" and waived punitive/treble damages; it also stated the contract "shall terminate ... immediately upon the resident’s death."
Jansen suffered falls while resident, later died; her estate filed claims including survival claims (Nursing Home Care Act and negligence) and wrongful-death claims.
Defendants moved to compel arbitration of certain counts; the trial court denied the motion (finding the punitive-damages waiver substantively unconscionable and refusing severance) and the appellate court affirmed on the alternative ground that the contract terminated on death so arbitration was unavailable.
The Illinois Supreme Court granted review and affirmed the appellate court: the contract’s plain language terminated the entire agreement (including the arbitration clause) upon the resident’s death, so arbitration was not available for claims brought after death—even for survival claims based on pre-death injury.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the arbitration clause applies to survival claims brought after the resident's death	Contract terminated on death; no arbitration forum available	Survival Act claims accrued pre-death and so are subject to arbitration per Carter	Contract unambiguously terminated on death; arbitration unenforceable for post-death suit
Whether Carter controls when the contract contains a termination-on-death clause	Carter did not involve a termination-on-death clause and is inapplicable	Carter requires arbitration of survival claims that accrued pre-death	Carter does not control this question; its holding is not dispositive where contract plainly terminates on death
Whether the punitive/treble-damages waiver rendered the arbitration provision substantively unconscionable (and whether severance was required)	Waiver made arbitration clause unconscionable; trial court declined severance	Clause was severable and enforceable	Court did not decide unconscionability/severance because contract was unenforceable on termination-on-death grounds
Whether the POA had authority to bind the resident to arbitration	POA lacked authority to execute an arbitration agreement binding the resident	POA had authority to sign the admission contract including arbitration	Court did not decide POA authority because arbitration was unavailable after death

Carter v. SSC Odin Operating Co., 2012 IL 113204 (Ill. 2012) (distinguishes wrongful-death vs. survival claims; held survival claims may be subject to arbitration when agreement otherwise applies)
Thompson v. Gordon, 241 Ill. 2d 428 (Ill. 2011) (contract interpretation: give effect to plain and unambiguous language)
United Cable Television Corp. v. Northwest Ill. Cable Corp., 128 Ill. 2d 301 (Ill. 1989) (arbitration is a matter of contract and cannot be extended by implication)
Rauh v. Rockford Prods. Corp., 143 Ill. 2d 377 (Ill. 1991) (arbitration agreements are enforceable only as written)
Air Safety, Inc. v. Teachers Realty Corp., 185 Ill. 2d 457 (Ill. 1999) (four-corners rule: a written agreement speaks for itself when unambiguous)