What specific expenses of litigation were the defendants seeking to recover in their counterclaims against Holiday Hospitality Franchising, LLC, and how does it relate to Crowne Plaza?
Crowne_Plaza Franchise · 2025 FDDAnswer from 2025 FDD Document
Plaintiffs were Crowne Plaza® licensees (for the Crowne Plaza® Columbus North – Worthington and the Crowne Plaza® Syracuse, respectively). Plaintiffs assert a breach of contract claim against Holiday and SCH related to a proposed sale of the subject hotels to a developer that intended to convert the subject hotels out of the Crowne Plaza® system. The Plaintiffs assert that Holiday breached the Plaintiffs' license agreements by improperly interfering with the contemplated transaction, including by contacting the potential purchaser and informing the potential purchaser that Holiday would not approve the proposed conversion transaction. The plaintiffs also assert causes of action related to Holiday and SCH allegedly imposing required vendors on its licensees and receiving improper "kickbacks" from such vendors. Plaintiffs specifically assert causes of action under Georgia's RICO statute, breach of contract, declaratory judgment, fraud in the inducement and violations of the New York State Franchise Act (as to the Syracuse plaintiff) based on these theories. The lawsuit seeks actual damages, treble damages, rescission of the subject license agreements, declaratory judgment, interest, and expenses of litigation. On June 24, 2022, Holiday and SCH filed a notice of removal removing the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The case was assigned case number 1:22-cv-2541- VMC. Holiday believes the allegations and the lawsuit to be meritless is defending vigorously. On July 1, 2022, Holiday and SCH filed a motion to dismiss all claims. On March 29, 2023, the Court granted the motion to dismiss as to the fraud and RICO claims. The Court remanded the action to the Georgia Superior Court without evaluating the remaining state law claims. On May 5, 2023, Holiday and SCH filed a motion to dismiss the remainder of the claims in the Georgia Superior Court, which the court denied on July 31, 2023. Holiday and SCH filed a motion for summary judgment with respect to all remaining claims on September 14, 2023. Before the court ruled on that motion, the defendants filed
Source: Item 3 — Litigation (FDD pages 16–27)
What This Means (2025 FDD)
According to the 2025 Crowne Plaza FDD, in the case of Ahijit Vasani a/k/a Andy Vasani, Bhavna Vasani a/k/a Becky Vasani, Innvite Hospitality Group, LLC v. Holiday Hospitality Franchising, LLC and Six Continents Hotels, Inc., the plaintiffs, who were Crowne Plaza licensees, sought to recover "expenses of litigation" in their lawsuit against Holiday Hospitality Franchising, LLC and Six Continents Hotels, Inc. The suit was related to a proposed sale of two Crowne Plaza hotels to a developer who intended to convert them out of the Crowne Plaza system.
The plaintiffs alleged that Holiday breached their license agreements by interfering with the contemplated transaction. They also claimed that Holiday and SCH imposed required vendors on its licensees and received improper "kickbacks" from such vendors. The plaintiffs asserted causes of action under Georgia's RICO statute, breach of contract, declaratory judgment, fraud in the inducement and violations of the New York State Franchise Act (as to the Syracuse plaintiff) based on these theories.
This means that, as a Crowne Plaza franchisee, you could potentially face litigation from Holiday Hospitality Franchising, LLC, and if you were to file a counterclaim, you might seek to recover litigation expenses. However, the success of such a claim would depend on the specific circumstances of the case and the applicable laws. It is important to note that Holiday believes the allegations and the lawsuit to be meritless and is defending vigorously.