United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit United States Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit

____________ FILED August 22, 2023 No. 22-40555 Lyle W. Cayce ____________ Clerk

Pizza Hut L.L.C., as successor-in-interest to Pizza Hut, Incorporated,

Plaintiff—Appellee,

versus

Jignesh N. Pandya; Ronak Foods, L.L.C.; Pandya Restaurants L.L.C.; JNP Foods, L.L.C.; 8 New Britain Pizza L.L.C.,

Defendants—Appellants,

Ronak Capital, L.L.C.,

Intervenor—Appellant. ______________________________

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas USDC No. 5:21-CV-89 ______________________________

Before Higginbotham, Southwick, and Willett, Circuit Judges. Don R. Willett, Circuit Judge: Jignesh Pandya was one of Pizza Hut L.L.C.’s largest franchisees in Pennsylvania, operating 43 restaurants there (plus one in Connecticut). Ultimately, though, Pandya failed to fulfill his contractual obligations, so Case: 22-40555 Document: 00516867747 Page: 2 Date Filed: 08/22/2023

No. 22-40555

Pizza Hut terminated the parties’ various franchise agreements. Hoping to keep the restaurants open, Pizza Hut entered into two post-termination agreements with Pandya for him to continue operating the restaurants while the parties tried to find a buyer. The first agreement was unsuccessful. The second ended in this litigation. After several rounds of pleading, Pandya demanded a jury trial. Pizza Hut moved to strike the request under the second post-termination agreement’s bilateral jury waiver. The district court enforced the waiver, and the case continued to a bench trial in which Pizza Hut prevailed. The only issue on appeal is whether the district court erred in striking Pandya’s jury demand. Pandya contends that the jury waiver was procured by fraud and that the district court failed to give due weight to the Seventh Amendment’s inviolability. In his view, the history of the Seventh Amendment shows that pre-dispute jury waivers were non-existent, and, even if they did exist, fraud can always invalidate a contract. The Seventh Amendment right to a jury trial is unassailable but not unwaivable. Courts have long honored parties’ agreements to waive the jury right if the waiver is knowing and voluntary. We follow our sister circuits in holding that general allegations of fraud do not render contractual jury waivers unknowing and involuntary unless those claims are directed at the waiver provision specifically. Because Pandya failed to show that the jury waiver was unknowing and involuntary, we hold him to his bargain and AFFIRM. I Between 2010 and 2012, Pandya, through his various L.L.C.s—Ronak Foods, Pandya Restaurants, and JNP Foods—entered into multiple 20-year franchise agreements with Pizza Hut to operate a total of 43 restaurants in Pennsylvania and one restaurant in Connecticut. In Pandya’s view, he did his

2 Case: 22-40555 Document: 00516867747 Page: 3 Date Filed: 08/22/2023

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best to run the franchises in an increasin