Bush

*926 Opinion

In this action, plaintiff Rebecca Bush sued the operators of a skilled nursing facility for elder abuse (among other causes of action) based on their alleged neglect in providing her care and treatment at the facility. In the same "complaint, Bush’s daughter, plaintiff Charmaine Jennings, sued the same defendants for negligent infliction of emotional distress based on her alleged observation of the harm they caused Bush through their neglect. When defendants moved to compel arbitration pursuant to a written agreement with Bush, the trial court exercised its discretion under Code of Civil Procedure section 1281.2, subdivision (c) (section 1281.2(c)) to deny their motions because of the possibility of conflicting rulings between Bush’s claim for elder abuse, which was subject to arbitration, and Jennings’s claim for negligent infliction of emotional distress, which was not.

On defendants’ appeals, we find no error in the trial court’s decision. In the published portion of our opinion, we conclude that Jennings is not bound by the arbitration agreement based on our Supreme Court’s recent decision in Ruiz v. Podolsky (2010) 50 Cal.4th 838 [ 114 Cal.Rptr.3d 263 , 237…