News & Stories
Moscow. The Moscow City Property Department went to the Arbitration Court against ZAO Leningradskaya Hotel with a lawsuit worth 286.1 million RUB. The hotel property - one of seven famous 'Stalin towers' - is owned by OAO Sadko-Hotel and operated by the Moscow subsidiary of Interstate Hotels & Resorts on behalf of a franchise agreement between Sadko-Hotel and Hilton.
Allensbach. The distrust in the German population concerning data protection has been growing. The majority of the population is not convinced that data stored by companies or the state are protected sufficiently. However, the distrust towards companies is higher than towards the state.
London. It all came thick and fast last week: On Tuesday evening, Hilton announced that the development of the new lifestyle brand Denizen had been temporarily halted and that the lifestyle time was suspended. Only four days previously, Starwood Hotels & Resorts accused its competitor of theft of confidential Starwood documents and filed a law suit.
Zurich. The "star wars" between the two competing associations for the hotel and restaurant industry in Switzerland has taken a turn for the better in favour of the smaller landlord association GastroSuisse. A court in Zurich dismissed the suit of the employers' association hotelleriesuisse: The association did not want to accept GastroSuisse's own category system, which is also based on stars.
London/Venice. Hotel Cipriani, the famous hotel in Venice which is part of Orient-Express Hotels Ltd, has been successful in an action in the High Court in London for trade mark infringement and passing off in respect of the brand "Cipriani" for restaurant services.
Offenbach. Summer time is holiday time. But what are the rules con-cerning holiday rights in connection with consecutive periods of parental leave? Joachim Jungbluth, hospitalityInside.com`s legal expert and partner specialising in labour law at Niederhausen and Jungbluth Chambers in Offenbach gives advice following a recent judgement by the Federal Labour Court.
Bern. The French company Les Maisons de Biarritz plans to build a 4 star hotel complex in Champery in the Swiss Canton of Valais. The complex will include three hotels, a thermal bath with 15 chalets and 51 apartments. The plans have been drawn up with the agreement of the Canton. Now, the Federal Justice Department has issued a claim before the Valais Canton Court aimed at preventing the construction of the 15 Chalets and 51 apartments. The project breaches "Lex Koller", the Department announced just a few days ago. Nevertheless, Valais' regional government reacted positively: For hotel companies, it might be possible to sell individual apartments to non-Swiss nationals.
Offenbach. Wherever a position capable of being filled by a disabled person becomes available, the employer is bound to register the existence of such with the local employment agency. Failure to do so could result in a claim for compensation on grounds of discrimination. Where such a claim is made, companies generally find it hard to convince the court that they had not acted discriminatorily. A judgement from the German Federal Labour Court.