A New York appeals court ruled yesterday that it would vacate an injunction requiring Eden Roc to accept the hotel management services of Marriott International and its subsidiary, Renaissance Hotel Management Co., LLC. (Marriott International, Inc. v. Eden Roc, LLLP, Index No. 653590/2012
Click here to download a PDF of the ruling. Source: New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division First Department).
The dispute has been brewing for more than a year. Eden Roc terminated its agreement with Marriott on March 30, 2012, citing a number of defaults. Marriott and Renaissance refused to vacate the hotel or acknowledge the agreement’s termination. In October 2012, Eden Roc and a team of transition professionals attempted to remove Marriott from the premises and to install in its place Eden Roc Management Company, an affiliated operating unit of the hotel’s owner that is comprised of seasoned managers of leading lifestyle brands. Marriott resisted and obtained the injunction preventing its removal.
Marriott argued that its management agreement with Eden Roc could not be terminated by Eden Roc during the full term of that agreement, which could have lasted another 43 years. Although Marriott obtained an injunction from the lower court securing its place as Eden Roc’s manager against Eden Roc’s wishes, a unanimous panel of the Appellate Division, First Department of New York, agreed with Pryor Cashman that the parties’ hotel management contract “is a classic example of a personal services contract that may not be enforced by injunction.”
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