Sandoval

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

A. The initial injury1 As the victim of a robbery gone awry on September 5, 2020, Theodore Sandoval (plaintiff) was shot in the neck and suffered a spinal cord injury that rendered him paralyzed from the chest down. He fell into a coma, but the parties at oral argument conceded that he had regained his mental faculties by early January 2021.

This factual summary is necessarily derived from the operative complaint, as the merits have not yet been determined by a factfinder.

2 In the three months immediately following his injury and while in the care of health care facilities not involved in this appeal, plaintiff developed numerous “stage four” pressure sores on various parts of his body, which later became infected. B. Plaintiff’s sister signs an arbitration agreement On January 7, 2021, plaintiff was admitted to Parkwest Healthcare Center, a skilled nursing facility in Reseda, California that is operated by Parkwest Rehabilitation Center, LLC (Parkwest). Upon his admission to Parkwest, plaintiff did not himself sign any paperwork. Instead, his sister filled out various items of paperwork, including (1) an “Attestation…