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Carll v. Terminix International Company, L.P.

Arbitration clause in pesticide company's residential customer agreement barred arbitrator from awarding personal injury damages and, thus, was unconscionable and unenforceable as violation of public policy.

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�1 This is an appeal from a trial court order which denied Appellant’s Petition to Compel Arbitration and to Stay Judicial Proceedings. *fn1 We affirm.

�2 This action was instituted by Appellees, Mr. and Mrs. Carll and their four children, claiming that they sustained numerous severe and permanent injuries as a result of Appellants’ negligent application of pesticides in and around their home. Appellee also sought damages for the costs of relocating as well as punitive damages. In response Appellants filed a Petition to Compel Arbitration and to Stay Judicial Proceedings in which they asserted that their agreement with Appellees expressly provided that all matters in dispute shall be settled exclusively by arbitration. Appellees responded to the petition claiming that the agreement was a contract of adhesion and void as against public policy and that the arbitration provisions which included an exculpatory clause was unconscionable. Appellees further contended that these provisions were void due to a lack of mutual assent and that they were not applicable to the minor children who were not parties to the contract. The trial court accepted Appellees’ arguments and entered its order denying the petition to compel arbitration. This appeal followed.

�3 In this appeal Appellants question whether the enforcement of the arbitration provision is consistent with and favored by law and public policy, and whether the arbitration clause can be applied to the claims brought on behalf of the minor children. Additionally, Appellants claim the trial court erred in refusing to stay the entire action pending the outcome of an arbitration proceeding. An examination of the contractual provision at issue is necessary for a review of these claims. It provides:

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