Macfadden

FACTS

Plaintiff Patricia Macfadden, and later a trust she created, owned a home in Hollywood. (We refer to Ms. Macfadden and the trust collectively as plaintiff.) Defendant Sotheby’s is a licensed real estate broker that employed defendant Guy Miracle, a licensed real estate agent. Plaintiff sued defendants and others,

2 including plaintiff’s daughter Jennifer Macfadden, in connection with the sale of plaintiff’s Hollywood home, alleging elder abuse and breach of fiduciary duty. The substance of the lawsuit is that plaintiff was coerced to sell her house for less than market value, while defendants knew and had previously arranged for the buyer to immediately sell the property to another interested purchaser for a substantially larger amount. In connection with the transaction, plaintiff signed a listing agreement with a separate arbitration agreement, as well as a purchase agreement with an arbitration clause. Both agreements stated that enforcement of the arbitration agreement “shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.” Plaintiff sued defendants on February 28, 2019. Defendants filed a motion to compel arbitration well over two years later, on September 13, 2021.…