What Happened: The owners of a hair salon sued their shopping center landlord for breach of lease, wrongful eviction, and other claims. They wanted a jury trial, but the landlord objected, citing the lease provision purporting to waive the tenants’ “right to a trial by jury in any action, proceeding or counterclaim on any matter whatsoever arising out of or in any way connected with this lease.” The tenants claimed the waiver clause was unenforceable.
Ruling: The Maryland federal court agreed and nixed the landlord’s motion to dismiss the case.
Reasoning: Under federal law, parties to a contract are allowed to waive their Seventh Amendment right to a trial by jury in a civil case. But the party seeking to enforce the waiver has the burden of proving that consent to the provision was “voluntary and informed.” In this case, the three factors that courts look at to determine “voluntary and informed” all worked against the landlord: