BEVERLY HILLS—The Beverly Hills luxury hotel, The Peninsula, filed a complaint on Tuesday, February 25 accusing Hilton Domestic Operating Company, Inc. (Hilton), Waldorf-Astoria Management LLC (Waldorf LLC), Oasis West Realty, LLC, Benny Alagem and Houssem Tasco of engaging in an ongoing scheme of corporate espionage orchestrated by the defendants.

The Peninsula alleges that the defendants engaged in breach of contract, aiding and abetting breach of contract, fraud, and aiding and abetting fraud by stealing thousands of proprietary documents to facilitate the opening of the Waldorf Astoria located across the street from the hotel.

According to court documents, The Hilton defendants solicited and obtained thousands of confidential Peninsula documents through Guest Relations Manager, Houssem Tasco, over the course of 14 months, while Tasco was still employed at the Peninsula. Defendants for the Hilton Domestic Operating Company Inc. allegedly used the time frame to take advantage of Tasco’s continued access to The Peninsula’s confidential, proprietary information.

Tasco left his employment position at The Peninsula to join the Waldorf Hotel after they allegedly collected enough information to run new hotel operations. Upon his employment, he assisted Hilton in using The Peninsula’s stolen information to lure away lucrative Peninsula clients.

Defendant Houssem Tasco received a court-ordered forensic examination of his personal electronic devices. Defendant Beny Alagem, owner of Oasis West and a beneficial owner of the Waldorf Hotel, Ted Kahan, President of Oasis West, and Vanessa Williams, current General Manager of the Waldorf Hotel and its former Director of Sales & Marketing, were also court-ordered for forensic examination of their personal electronic devices.

The evidence gathered from the court-ordered forensic examinations revealed pictures of The Peninsula’s trade secrets as they were displayed on a computer or cell phone screen. Photos of confidential documents showing The Peninsula’s guests, custom room rates crafted for high-end customers, financial documents, and contact information for Middle Eastern travel agencies, a lucrative Beverly Hills market segment that accounts for millions of dollars in business, were uncovered in the investigation.

In all, Tasco emailed, downloaded and took screenshots of more than 45,000 documents. The plaintiffs are represented by Skip Miller and lawyers from Miller Barondess LLP in Los Angeles.