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Mississippi Supreme Court Affirms Order Denying Motion to Compel Arbitration As Health Care Surrogate Lacked Authority to Execute Arbitration Agreement
August 04, 2026

In Manhattan Nursing & Rehabilitation Center LLC v. Hawkins, the Supreme Court of Mississippi addressed an appeal brought by Manhattan Nursing and Rehabilitation Center of an order denying its motion to compel arbitration of Verna Hawkins’ action arising from alleged improper treatment and care that her husband Wydett Hawkins received at the center prior to his death.

Hawkins executed all admissions paperwork on her husband’s behalf upon his admission to the center, including an arbitration agreement that mandated “all claims, disputes, and controversies of any kind between the parties arising out of or relating in any way to the [a]dmission [a]greement or any service or health care provided by [Manhattan] to the [r]esident shall be resolved exclusively by binding arbitration.” Wydett died approximately three months after his admission to the center. Hawkins then brought an action on her own behalf and on behalf of the Wydett’s wrongful death beneficiaries against the center and others alleging improper care and treatment by the defendants. The center filed a motion to compel arbitration and to stay Hawkins’ action based on the arbitration agreement. The trial court denied the center’s motion, noting that, pursuant to the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, “the authority of a health-care surrogate is limited to making health-care decisions.” The court concluded the arbitration agreement was unenforceable, finding it “was not a healthcare decision because execution of the arbitration agreement was not ‘an essential part of the consideration for the receipt of healthcare.’”   

On appeal by the center, the Supreme Court of Mississippi affirmed the trial court’s order, finding the execution of the arbitration agreement was not “a condition of, admission to, or requirement to continue to receive care” at the center, and Hawkins did not have the authority to execute the arbitration agreement, which made the agreement invalid and unenforceable.

Manhattan Nursing & Rehabilitation Center LLC v. Hawkins, No. 2024-CA-00488-SCT (Miss. Feb. 19, 2026).
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Image: Kenneth J. Cesta
Kenneth J. Cesta
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