Jury Trial Waiver in Guaranty Doesn’t Bind Non-Signatory Tenant

What Happened: A landlord got the individual principal of a new restaurant to sign a guaranty of the tenant’s performance of the lease. The guaranty, which the tenant didn’t sign, included a waiver of jury trial clause. Disputes later arose, and the tenant and landlord sued each other for breach of contract. The tenant demanded a trial by jury, but the landlord insisted that it was bound by the waiver of jury trial provision contained in the guaranty. The court agreed, and the case proceeded to a nonjury trial, which ruled for the landlord on all claims. The tenant appealed. 

Ruling: The Florida court held that the tenant wasn’t bound by the guaranty waiver of jury trial and struck down the lower court’s rulings on the merits.  

Reasoning: The court rejected the landlord’s argument that the guaranty and lease were “integrated” agreements binding on the tenant despite its not having signed the former: 

• There was no jury trial waiver in the lease the way there was in the guaranty;
• The lease didn’t reference the guaranty, nor include language to incorporate the guaranty (or its jury trial waiver) into the lease; and
•  There was no evidence that the guarantor was acting as an agent on behalf of the tenant in executing the guaranty. 

• Pierre's Caribbean Cuisine LLC v. Leaseflorida LLC, 2025 Fla. App. LEXIS 2038, 2025 WL 779170