## Facts

- Three West Virginia negligence/wrongful-death suits were brought against nursing-home operators by representatives of deceased residents.
- Each resident had been admitted under an agreement signed by a family member that contained a predispute arbitration clause.
- Two agreements required arbitration of all disputes except late-payment collection claims and referenced filing fees under the American Arbitration Association schedule; a third required arbitration without stated exceptions and did not mention fees.
- After the residents died, the families sued in West Virginia state court alleging negligence leading to injury and death.
- Trial courts enforced arbitration in two cases and dismissed those suits; the third case reached the state high court and was consolidated with the others.

## Issues

1. Whether the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) preempts a state public-policy rule that categorically refuses to enforce predispute arbitration clauses covering nursing-home personal-injury or wrongful-death claims.
2. Whether a state court may narrow the FAA’s coverage to exclude such claims based on state public policy.

## Decision

- The U.S. Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia and remanded.
- The Court held that the FAA preempts a state rule that deems unenforceable all predispute arbitration agreements covering nursing-home personal-injury or wrongful-death claims.
- The Court directed the state court on remand to apply ordinary, generally applicable state contract principles that do not single out arbitration.

## Legal Principles

- State and federal courts must enforce arbitration agreements covered by the FAA according to their terms.
- A state may not adopt a categorical rule prohibiting arbitration of a particular type of claim because such a rule conflicts with the FAA and is preempted.
- State courts may apply neutral, generally applicable contract defenses (e.g., unconscionability) to arbitration agreements, so long as those defenses are not applied in a way that disfavors arbitration.

## Conclusion

The Supreme Court held that the FAA forbids state courts from invalidating nursing-home arbitration clauses through a blanket public-policy rule against arbitrating negligence or wrongful-death claims, while leaving room for non-discriminatory state contract defenses to be considered on remand.


Marmet Health Care Ctr., Inc. v. Brown, 565 U.S. 530 (2012)