Judge dissents as to whether a wife is an agent of her husband when signing an arbitration agreement.

Denial of preliminary objections was upheld when the court found that the mere relationship of a wife to a husband did not make her his agent for purposes of signing an agreement to exculpatory clause and waiver of right to trial.

Judge Bowes dissented that the factual admissions of the plaintiffs established that agency by implication. The husband claimed he did not sign the agreement and, therefore, was unenforceable. The language stated that the husband had read and completed the agreement. The wife was informed that all participants were required to execute an agreement, and she told the employee that the husband had, in fact, signed the agreement. With nothing to alert the facility that the name was signed by the wife, and the husband’s admission that his wife “usually handles that stuff,” Judge Bowes dissented that the admitted allocation of marital duties was more than a mere relationship but was a component of express authority.

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