Julian Crowley
In 2009 Starwood rocked the hospitality world when they accused household name Hilton of industrial espionage based on Hilton’s employment of 10 executives and managers from Starwood. Starwood’s accusations were centered around luxury brand ideas, with the former head of Starwood’s luxury brands group alleged to have downloaded “truckloads” of documents before leaving for the bigger firm.
In 2010, the two groups reached a settlement that required the Hilton group to make payments to Starwood, as well as refrain from developing a competing luxury hotel brand until 2013. The call for federal monitors to supervise Hilton’s conduct shows that it isn’t just Paris who’s on the wrong side of the law occasionally.
