To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: When it comes to arbitration provisions, you may get more than you bargained for. The Third District Court of Appeals recently confirmed that by signing an arbitration provision, the signatory may be forced to arbitrate by a non-signatory. On March 17, 2021, the Third DCA issued the opinion in Kratos Investments vs. ABS Healthcare Services, et al. The Third DCA relied on the doctrine of equitable estoppel to prevent the signatory to an arbitration agreement, ABS, from avoiding the arbitration clause of an agreement it negotiated. The arbitration dispute between the parties arose after ABS sued Kratos over an alleged scheme to steal ABS’ business. ABS alleged that Kratos conspired with ABS’s own agents in a scheme to steal ABS’s business by illegally soliciting ABS’s customers and misappropriating ABS’s confidential information and trade secrets. ABS also sued eight of its own agents.