Opinion ID: 1692377
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: GUERTIN v MARRELLA

Text: The plaintiff Robert Guertin underwent corrective foot surgery in December, 1979, at Hutzel Hospital  Warren Division. In April, 1983, plaintiff filed the instant suit against defendants Basil Marrella, D.P.M., Thomas Bauder, D.P.M., and Hutzel Hospital  Warren Division because of his dissatisfaction with the surgical results. The defendants moved for accelerated judgment or, in the alternative, for an order compelling arbitration on the basis of a December 12, 1979, arbitration agreement signed by the plaintiff. An evidentiary hearing was held to determine the validity of the arbitration agreement. At the outset, the trial court ruled that the agreement must be presumed valid since it conformed to the statutory requirements. Later, the trial court found that the plaintiff had failed to present sufficient evidence that the agreement had been the product of fraud or misrepresentation and ordered arbitration. Plaintiff appealed. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the trial court had improperly placed upon plaintiff the burden of proving the invalidity of the arbitration agreement. Guertin v Marrella, 149 Mich App 420; 385 NW2d 805 (1986). The case was remanded for further proceedings because the Court of Appeals could not say that, had the burden been properly placed with the defendant, the ruling of the trial court would have been the same. Id., p 424. Defendants then applied for, and this Court granted, leave to appeal.