In Re Labatt Food Service, L.P.

Under Texas law, wrongful death beneficiaries are generally bound by a decedent’s pre-death contractual agreement because of the derivative nature of their claims. In this case, we consider whether the arbitration provision in an agreement between a decedent and his employer requires the employee’s wrongful death beneficiaries to arbitrate their wrongful death claims against the employer even though they did not sign the agreement. We hold that it does.

I. Background

Labatt Food Service, L.P. does not provide workers’ compensation insurance to cover its employees in the event of on-the-job…