Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide v. Hilton Hotels Corporation

The court consented to the settlement reached in January, 2011 between Starwood and Hilton Hotels in the trade secrets case initiated by Starwood in 2009. The suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2009, related to the defection of two senior executives from Starwood to Hilton. In April 2009, Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani moved to Hilton, taking hundreds of thousands of electronic documents which were essentially the blueprints for the beginning of a hotel brand. The settlement included a $75 million cash payment to Starwood and a permanent injunction which prohibits Hilton from opening any new “luxury and lifestyle” hotels for two years.

Status: A federal grand jury in Manhattan continues to investigate whether Hilton and its former executives should face criminal charges.

Complaint filed Apr. 16, 2009
Permanent injunction issued Dec. 22, 2010.

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