Are Wrongful Death Actions Subject to Arbitration Clauses?

In a recent Second Department decision, Marinos v. Brahaj, 2025 NY Slip Op 03561, plaintiff-decedent was killed while operating a moped rented from Revel. The moped was rented via the Revel application, which requires that a user acknowledge several documents by clicking through them prior to renting. One of these documents is an arbitration clause. The parents of the decedent brought a negligence and wrongful death action against the driver who struck their child, and the negligence cause of action was subject to the arbitration clause. However, the court was tasked with the question of whether the wrongful death claims were derivative of the negligence cause of action and subject to the arbitration clause, or was it an independent claim.

In other states such as Massachusetts, New Mexico, and Florida, courts have held that a wrongful death cause of action is subject to the arbitration clause because it arises from the negligence claim. However, the Appellate Division in this recent case in New York held that although the arbitration clause was entered into by the plaintiff-decedent, the wrongful death claim is brought by others and is independent of the negligence cause of action. The Court felt the plaintiffs never agreed to arbitrate their claims with Revel and could therefore not be held to the arbitration clause.

Giulia R. Marino, Esq.