5-star Hotel Sued For Defamation

[peter991]

5-star hotel sued for defamation

Thursday, March 27, 2008

Lebua Hotels in Thailand has sued Kurt Wachtveitl, the general manager of the Oriental Hotel, for defaming it in an internal memo warning that the competitor was poaching qualified hotel staff from other hotels.

Wachtveitl appeared in the Criminal Court yesterday to face a libel lawsuit.

The memo barred Lebua management from the Oriental on pain of being escorted off the premises by security staff.

Lebua argues that the memo suggested it used dishonest means to seduce staff from other hotels and that informing other Bangkok hotels that Lebua managers were banned from The Oriental injured its reputation, the court complaint said. The e-mail also urged other hotels to join the protest.

In a memo dated Nov. 30, 2006, Wachtveitl said Lebua poached 26 employees from The Peninsula Hotel in two months and expressed concern that The Oriental could be targeted next.

"Effective immediately, no management members from Lebua ... are allowed at The Oriental," the memo signed by Wachtveitl and sent by e-mail to department heads said, according to the court complaint.

"In order to reinforce our staff retention, do not accept any reservations (rooms or restaurants) under their names. Should you come across any management member in the hotel, please make sure they are escorted out of the premises immediately.”

Lebua has filed two complaints, including a criminal case accusing The Oriental of forwarding the memo to general managers at nine other Bangkok hotels. They have also filed a civil case seeking damages of 213 million baht.

"This should never have occurred," said Thai Hotels Association president Chanin Dhonavanik.

"What will the world think of Thailand when the world's best hotel is involved in a lawsuit like this? This is the first in Thai hotel history and will certainly damage our reputation."

A source at the Oriental said the hotel had every right to guard against headhunting.

"The e-mail was meant as an internal memo for the management," she said, insisting it was never sent to other hotels.

Peter

[astral]

How childish can they get???

[dave111223]

I thought in order to sue for defamation the statements have to be knowingly false? But it seems like the Lebua management were in fact headhunting at other hotels?

[way2muchcoffee]

In Thailand 'truth' is not a defense in a libel suit.

Edited March 27, 2008 by way2muchcoffee

[sugarhead]

Headhunting on competitors territory is how 80% of service staff in the Asian hospitality industry are recruited.

[mrtoad]

Headhunting on competitors territory is how 80% of service staff in the Asian hospitality industry are recruited.

I'd say it's pretty much the same anywhere you go, and whatever industry your in.

[MeaMaximaCulpa]

I agree this should never have happened. To headhunt someone, you do not need to send in your top management team to the physical premises, there are far better and stealthy ways to go about it. So this ban put The Oriental (my all time favourite hotel and venue for nice meals & suchlike) in a bind for no good reason.

From what (admittedly little) I know about The Oriental's staff policy, it is the best in the business, and for that reason, I think they have made a very good defence against poaching of their staff. Who in their right mind would leave a great, "lifetime" job at The Oriental for a similar job at an unproven venue? Unless lured by a rediculously high salary? And in the end, if you do end up losing a few people to a poacher, perhaps it is time to say: Good riddance?

I was once in a similar situation; I wanted to change employer within the same field of work. I had when starting out signed an employment contract expressly forbidding me to work for any competitor, supplier or customer of my company. At the time I didn't think much about it, but when I resigned, some regional manager got very upset, and said the company would take me to court for breach of contract.

I checked with the new employer, and they said don't worry, a court will not rule against one employee that has to make a living in the field he has knowledge and experience, in favour of a big multinational, at the time toted as one of the most profitable (listed) companies on earth (early to mid eighties. If you are curious as to what company, you have to PM me, I will not say on the forum. But if you want an answer, you must venture a guess first!). My new company also promised, in writing, to cover any legal costs in the unlikely event the case actually did go to court. It never did of course, just a stressed out regional boss seeing his star employee leave

EDIT: Some minor clean-ups and additions

Edited March 28, 2008 by MeaMaximaCulpa