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Treatment Centres and Contract Law: Misrepresentation and Duress
For most of us that have attended any 12 Step treatment centre we will recall having to sign some kind of document before we were admitted. This must be a contract – demanding that we adhere to certain rules and that we agree to pay, or arrange payment, for any services we receive. If this is the case, using English and Welsh contract law as my reference, I put it to you this practice may well constitute both misrepresentation and duress.
The following is taken from Wikipedia, not the most reliable source, but in the interests of keeping this simple for now, I shall borrow from it nonetheless:
“In contract law, a misrepresentation is a false statement of fact made by one party to another party and has the effect of inducing that party into the contract. For example, under certain circumstances, false statements or promises made by a seller of goods regarding the quality or nature of the product that the seller has may constitute misrepresentation. A finding of misrepresentation allows for a remedy of rescission and sometimes damages depending on the type of misrepresentation.
According to Gordon v Selico (1986) 18 HLR 219 it is possible to make a misrepresentation either by words or by conduct, although not everything said or done is capable of constituting a misrepresentation. Generally, statements of opinion or intention are not statements of fact in the context of misrepresentation. If one party claims specialist knowledge on the topic discussed, then it is more likely for the courts to hold a statement of opinion by that party as a statement of fact.”
Available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misrepresentation
Statements like ‘It works if you work it’ and the fact that any member of staff at a 12 Step treatment centre must be considered to have ‘specialist knowledge’ can only back up my claims. Add to that unrealistic and unsubstantiated success rates, the case for misrepresentation becomes even stronger.
Moving onto duress, I would like to draw your attention to Wikipedia once again:
“Duress in the context of contract law is a common law defense, and if one is successful in proving that the contract is vitiated by duress, the contract may be rescinded, since it is then voidable.
Duress has been defined as a "threat of harm made to compel a person to do something against his or her will or judgment; esp., a wrongful threat made by one person to compel a manifestation of seeming assent by another person to a transaction without real volition." - Black's Law Dictionary (8th ed. 2004)”
Available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duress_(contract_law)
‘Do the steps or die’ or ‘Unless each A.A. member follows to the best of his ability our suggested Twelve Steps to recovery, he almost certainly signs his own death warrant. His drunkenness and dissolution are not penalties inflicted by people in authority; they result from his personal disobedience to spiritual principles. (Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, William G. Wilson, page 174.)’, would appear to me to be threats amounting to duress.
What I have written above is a very simple overview – I was talking to someone this evening that brought made me consider these things. Anyone in the know may want to look into this further.
Holidaying Jimmy