Exclusivity Provision in Lease Permits Landlord to Rent to ‘McD’s’ In NJ Shopping Mall (Much to ‘Sbux’s’ Chagrin)

Exclusivity provisions are staples of some commercial leases, particularly in the shopping mall setting.

The purpose of these so-called “exclusives” is to protect a tenant from a competing business renting in the same shopping center and potentially undercutting the tenant’s pricing. The larger the tenant (think “anchor” tenant) in terms of resources, the more leverage it has in insisting on an exclusivity term.

Delco, LLC v. Starbucks (see https://casetext.com/case/delco-llc-v-starbucks-corp) pits a New Jersey commercial landlord suing the coffee giant for a court declaration that the landlord’s renting to McDonald’s in the same shopping center did not violate an exclusive in Starbucks’ lease that prohibited plaintiff from leasing space to any tenant (other than Starbucks) who would sell “coffee, espresso and tea drinks.”  The one qualification to the exclusive was that the landlord could rent to “any tenant [who occupies] twenty thousand contiguous square feet or more…and operating under a single trade name.”

The appeals court affirmed the trial court’s finding that the landlord could lease 40,000 square feet to McDonald’s (which sells coffee) without violating the Starbucks lease exclusive.

Applying the plain language of the exclusivity term under basic New Jersey contract interpretation rules, the court found that McDonald’s easily qualified as a tenant who is “operating under a single trade name.”  And since the McDonald’s lease encompassed over 20,000 square feet, the McDonald’s lease qualified for the exclusivity exception.

Afterwords:

It’s not clear from the short opinion why Starbucks put up such a fight on what seems like an obvious exception to the exclusivity term. So vigorous were Starbucks litigation efforts here, that the plaintiff was awarded over $113K in lawyer fees litigating whether the McDonald’s lease ran afoul of the exclusive term in the Starbucks’ lease.

The appeals court reversed the fee award though since the trial judge didn’t delineate its specific findings that support its fee award. The case will now go back to the NJ trial court for further litigation of the plaintiff-landlord’s attorneys’ fees.

Process Server’s Return of Service Qualifies As Public Records and ‘Regularly Conducted Business Activity’ Hearsay Exceptions – Florida Appeals Court

My experience with the hearsay evidence rules usually involves trying to get a business record like an invoice or spreadsheet into evidence at trial or on summary judgment.  The business records hearsay exception is found at Illinois Evidence Rule 803(6) and mirrors the Federal counterpart.  “Exception” in the context of hearsay evidence means a document is hearsay (an out-of-court statement used to prove the truth of the matter asserted) and would normally be excluded but still gets in evidence because the document (or other piece of evidence) has an element of reliability that satisfies the court that the document is what it appears to be.

Occasionally though, I’ve found that a working knowledge of some of the more obscure (to me at least) hearsay exceptions can in some cases lead to a victory or at least resurrect a rapidly flagging case.

Davidian v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA, 2015 WL 5827124 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015) (http://www.4dca.org/opinions/Oct.%202015/10-7-15/4D14-2431.op.pdf) a recent Florida appeals court decision, examines some hearsay exceptions as they apply to a process server’s sworn return of service and the persons served are challenging service.

Chase Bank filed a foreclosure suit against defendants/appellants (a husband and wife) and filed returns of service signed by Chase’s process server who certified that he served both appellants at the same time on the same date. The appellants moved to quash service of process on the grounds they were never served. The trial court denied the motion leading to this appeal.

The appeals court affirmed.  It held the appellants failed to show by clear and convincing proof that the returns of service were deficient.

In Florida, the burden of proving proper service of process is on the suing party and the return of service is evidence of whether service was validly made.  A return of service is presumed to be valid and the party contesting service must overcome the presumption by clear and convincing evidence.  A return of service is technically hearsay since it’s an out-of-court statement used to show its truth – that service of summons was in fact made on a party.

Two hearsay rule exceptions recognized not only by Florida courts but various state and Federal courts include the public records and the “regularly conducted business activity” exceptions.  Fla. Stat. s. 90.801, 803(6), (8).

Here, the court found the service return admissible under both exceptions.  The return was a public record – presumably because it was filed as part of the case record.  The return also qualified as evidence of regularly conducted business activity since the process server stated in his affidavit that was his regular practice to prepare such an affidavit detailing the date, time and manner of service.

The appeals court also rejected appellants’ argument that the service returns were defeated by their counter-affidavits in which they denied receiving the summons and complaint.  When faced with a service return and a defendant claiming he/she wasn’t served, the court makes a credibility determination after an evidentiary hearing.   Factual determinations are typically not disturbed on appeal.  The court found that the trial court was in a better position to judge the credibility of the witnesses and upheld the motion to quash’s denial.

Take-aways:

This case presents application of hearsay exceptions in an unorthodox factual setting.  The court expanded the scope of the public records and regularly-conducted-business-activity exceptions to encompass a process server’s return of service.  This case and others  like it validate process servers’ sworn returns and make it easier for plaintiffs to clear service of process hurdles where a defendant claims to have never been served.

 

 

 

Wage Payment and Collection Act Amendments Allowing for Attorneys’ Fees and 2% Interest – One Applies Retroactively, the Other Doesn’t – IL 1st Dist

Aside from its application of the apparent agency doctrine to a dispute over commissions, Thomas v. Weatherguard Construction Company, 2015 IL App (1st) 142785 also provides an interesting analysis of when attorneys’ fees and statutory interest can be tacked on to a successful Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act (“Wage Act”) plaintiff’s suit for unpaid wages against an employer.

The Wage Act was amended in 2011 to allow a winning plaintiff to add to his unpaid damage award (a) attorneys’ fees and costs, plus (b) 2% monthly interest on unpaid amounts. 820 ILCS 115/14(a).

Before this change, a Wage Act plaintiff could still recover fees but he had to do so under the Attorneys Fees in Wage Actions Act, 705 ILCS 225/1.  Since the plaintiff in this case filed suit in 2007 (before the amendment), the question was whether Section 14(a) (the section with the attorneys’ fees provision) applied retroactively.  The defendant argued that the amended Wage Act could not apply retroactively since it fastened two new liabilities – an attorneys’ fees provision and a 2% interest term – on Wage Act defendants.

Generally, procedural changes in a statute apply retroactively while substantive changes don’t.  But the line separating procedure from substance can be blurry.

‘Procedure is the machinery for carrying on the suit, including pleading, process, evidence and practice, whether in the trial court, or in the processes by which causes are carried to the appellate courts for review, or laying the foundation for such review.’ By contrast, a substantive change in the law establishes, creates or defines rights. (¶ 66)

A procedural statutory amendment will not be applied retroactively if the statute would have a “retroactive impact” – meaning the amended statute would (i) impair rights a party possessed when he acted, (ii) increase a party’s liability for past conduct, or (iii) impose new duties with respect to transactions already completed.

Here, the amended Section 14(a) of the Wage Act was not a substantive change since it did not create a new attorneys’ fees remedy.  At the time plaintiff filed suit (2007), a Wage Act plaintiff could recover fees under the Attorneys Fees in Wage Actions Act cited above. 

In addition, the amended law didn’t have retroactive effect on the defendant.  The amended statute didn’t impair any of the defendant’s pre-existing rights, increase the defendant’s liability for past conduct or impose new obligations on it.  Again, a prevailing Wage Act plaintiff could recover attorneys’ fees under the prior, existing version of statute when plaintiff filed suit. (¶¶ 66-74)

The court reached the opposite conclusion on the 2% monthly interest provision, though.  Where a statutory amendment creates a new liability that didn’t exist under a prior version of a law, it’s considered a  substantive change.  Since the 2% monthly interest provision didn’t exist in the earlier version of the Wage Act, its presence in the current statute was a substantive change that could not be applied retroactively.

The end result was that the court remanded the case so that the trial court could assess plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees incurred in his partially successful Wage Act claim.

Take-away:

This is a pro-claimant case as it gives added strength to a Wage Act remedy.  By raising the specter of prevailing plaintiff attorneys’ fees on top of the unpaid wages amount, the amended Wage Act may level the playing field between former employees who might normally lack the resources to fund litigation against deeper-pocketed ex-employers.  By allowing for fees and interest, the Wage Act provides an incentive for aggrieved employees to sue under the statute.