STANTON LEWIS and NANCY DARK, Plaintiffs-Respondents, v. CEDU EDUCATIONAL SERVICES INC., and ROCKY MOUNTAIN ACADEMY, INC., and Idaho corporation; NORTHWEST ACADEMY, INC., an Idaho corporation; ASCENT; and BOULDER CREEK ACADEMY, Defendants-Appellants., 135 Idaho 139

Summary

Plaintiff mother signed participation contracts with defendants, academies, for plaintiff son to enroll. The contracts included mandatory arbitration provisions as to the "parties to" the contracts. After a riot at one of defendants, an employee allegedly promised plaintiff mother that plaintiff son would be safe, but he was later hurt by another student. Plaintiffs sued defendants for breach of express warranty for that, and also for breach of contract, fraud, negligence, and Consumer Protection and Racketeering Acts violations. The district court ruled that plaintiff son's claim against defendant billing company was not subject to the arbitration agreement because they were not parties to the contract, and that the express warranty claim had not arisen from the contract. It otherwise stayed litigation. Defendants appealed. The court affirmed except to remand the warranty claim as subject to arbitration too. Plaintiff son's third-party beneficiary status did not make him a named ...