Zephyr Haven Health & Rehab Center, Inc. v. Estate of Clukey ex rel. Clukey, 133 So. 3d 1230

Mrs. Brenda Clukey, as her husband Roy Clukey’s durable power of attorney holder, admitted him to Zephyr Haven nursing facility; he lived there ~2.5 years and died days after discharge.
Mrs. Clukey, as personal representative of the Estate, sued Zephyr Haven for residents’ rights violations, negligence, and wrongful death.
Zephyr Haven moved to compel arbitration under an arbitration clause in the facility admission agreement that Mrs. Clukey signed; the admission agreement was not a condition of admission.
The trial court denied the motion, finding the durable power of attorney did not authorize Mrs. Clukey to sign the admission (and arbitration) agreement and that the arbitration clause was substantively and procedurally unconscionable.
On appeal, Zephyr Haven argued the durable power of attorney authorized agreement to arbitration and that the Estate failed to show arbitration costs rendered the clause substantively unconscionable.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether durable POA authorized signing the admission and arbitration agreement	POA disallowed medical/healthcare decisions; thus Mrs. Clukey lacked authority to bind Roy to arbitration	POA granted authority over "claims and litigation" and "all other matters," including agreeing to arbitration; New York law recognizes such authority	Court held POA did authorize agreeing to arbitration (reversed trial court)
Whether arbitration agreement was unconscionable because Estate could not afford arbitration costs	Estate argued arbitration costs made clause substantively unconscionable	Zephyr Haven argued Estate failed to show likely arbitration costs would exceed litigation costs (burden on Estate)	Court held Estate failed to prove substantive unconscionability; trial court erred

Blankfeld v. Richmond Health Care, Inc., 902 So.2d 296 (Fla. 4th DCA 2005) (health care proxy authority does not extend to agreeing to arbitration)
Candansk, LLC v. Estate of Hicks, 25 So.3d 580 (Fla. 2d DCA 2009) (POA grants over claims and litigation include authority to agree to arbitration)
Zephyr Haven Health & Rehab Ctr., Inc. v. Hardin, 122 So.3d 916 (Fla. 2d DCA 2013) (plaintiff must demonstrate arbitration costs likely exceed litigation costs to show substantive unconscionability)
Bland ex rel. Coker v. Health Care & Ret. Corp. of Am., 927 So.2d 252 (Fla. 2d DCA 2006) (both substantive and procedural unconscionability required to avoid arbitration)
Stewart Agency, Inc. v. Robinson, 855 So.2d 726 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003) (same)
Shotts v. OP Winter Haven, Inc., 86 So.3d 456 (Fla. 2011) (abrogation on other grounds noted)