Information Requested by Tenant Not Relevant to Exclusive Use Violation

November 1, 2005

A bakery tenant's exclusive barred the center from leasing space to any tenant that would use more than 15 percent of its space “for the preparation and sale of bagels.” The center leased space to a restaurant that sold bagels. So the bakery tenant sued the center for violating its exclusive and asked the court to order the center to give it information regarding the restaurant's bagel sales and seating.

A bakery tenant's exclusive barred the center from leasing space to any tenant that would use more than 15 percent of its space “for the preparation and sale of bagels.” The center leased space to a restaurant that sold bagels. So the bakery tenant sued the center for violating its exclusive and asked the court to order the center to give it information regarding the restaurant's bagel sales and seating.

A federal court in Ohio dismissed the bakery tenant's lawsuit and ruled that the information it requested was irrelevant to the alleged exclusive violation. The court noted that the exclusive was tied to the percentage of a tenant's space used for preparing and selling bagels. So information on the percentage of the restaurant's sales attributable to bagels and how much of the restaurant's space is allocated to seating is irrelevant to the alleged exclusive violation, the court reasoned [Bruegger's Enterprises, Inc. v. Middleburg Towne Square LP].

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