J-S13022-16

NON-PRECEDENTIAL DECISION - SEE SUPERIOR COURT I.O.P. 65.37

NANCY D. MARTZ, EXECUTRIX OF THE 

ESTATE OF HARRY L. OTTO, DECEASED

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF

PENNSYLVANIA

Appellee

v.

GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL SENIOR CARE, 

LLC, GGNSC ALTOONA HILLVIEW LP, 

D/B/A GOLDEN LIVINGCENTERHILLVIEW GP LLC,

GGNSC HOLDINGS LLC, GGNSC EQUITY 

HOLDINGS, LLC, GGNSC

ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES, LLC, 

GGNSC CLINICAL SERVICES, LLC,

DENISE CURRY, AN INDIVIDUAL, AND 

ROBERT ETCHELLS, NHA,

Appellants No. 855 WDA 2015

Appeal from the Order Dated May 12, 2015

In the Court of Common Pleas of Blair County

Civil Division at No: 2014-01657

BEFORE: LAZARUS, STABILE, and FITZGERALD,*JJ. 

MEMORANDUM BY STABILE, J.: FILED JANUARY 12, 2017

This case returns to this Court following a remand from our Supreme 

Court. On November 17, 2016, the Court granted the petition for allowance 

of appeal filed by Appellants (collectively Golden Gate), vacated our previous 

order affirming the overruling of preliminary objections to compel arbitration 

____________________________________________

*

Former Justice specially assigned to the Superior Court.
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of claims brought under the Wrongful Death and Survival Acts,1and 

remanded the case to us for further proceedings consistent with Taylor v. 

Extendicare Health Facilities, Inc., ___A.3d___, 2016 WL 5630669 (Pa. 

Sept. 28, 2016). Upon review, we reverse and remand.

Briefly, the claims arise from the death of Harry L. Otto, after he was a 

resident at a nursing home operated by Golden Gate. 

We have previously noted that wrongful death claims are not subject 

to arbitration, because a decedent’s agreement to arbitrate is not 

enforceable against the decedent’s wrongful death beneficiaries. Pisano v. 

Extendicare Homes, Inc., 77 A.3d 651, 661 (Pa. Super. 2013). In our 

previous decision, we relied exclusively on this court’s decision in Taylor v. 

Extendicare Homes, Inc., 113 A.3d 317, 320 (Pa. Super. 2015), rev’d, 

____A.3d _____, 2016 WL 5630669 (Pa. Sept. 28, 2016) and Tuomi v. 

Extendicare, Inc., 119 A.3d 1030 (Pa. Super. 2015). We held that 

Pa.R.C.P. No. 213(e), requires compulsive joinder of Survival Act claims and 

wrongful death claims and such joinder does not violate the Federal 

Arbitration Act.2 Unpublished Memorandum, 6/3/2015, at 2. Following the 

reversal in Taylor, it is clear that Pa.R.C.P. No. 213(e) does violate the 

Federal Arbitration Act, and therefore is preempted. Taylor, 2016 WL 

____________________________________________

1 Respectively, 42 Pa.C.S.A. §§ 8301 and 8302.

2 9 U.S.C. § 2.
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563069 at 16. This preemption requires that Appellants’ preliminary 

objections to compel arbitration be sustained and the wrongful death and 

Survival Act claims be severed unless the Arbitration Agreement is 

unenforceable. “The only exception to a state’s obligation to enforce an 

arbitration agreement is provided by the savings clause, which permits the 

application of generally applicable state contract law defenses such as fraud, 

duress, or unconscionability, to determine whether a valid contract exists.” 

Taylor, 2016 WL 5630069 at 14 (citations omitted). To the extent 

Appellees raised contract law defenses, including but not limited to 

unconscionability, this matter is hereby remanded to the trial court in accord 

with Taylor, and further to permit the trial court to address any contract 

based defenses. 

Order reversed. Case remanded. Jurisdiction relinquished.

Judgment Entered.

Joseph D. Seletyn, Esq.

Prothonotary

Date: 1/12/2017