• Reuters, Friday, April 17, 2009 10:49 AM

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide is suing Hilton Hotels in federal court in New York, accusing two of its top executives of stealing trade secrets to speed its entry into the "lifestyle" market, Deena Beasley reports.

Starwood claims Ross Klein, head of luxury and lifestyle brands, and Amar Lalvani, head of development for the segment, stole "truckloads of documents" -- more than 100,000 electronic files -- before and after they left Starwood for Hilton.

Both executives had been closely involved in Starwood's W Hotels brand. Starwood seeks monetary damages and a court order that would stop Hilton's new Denizen "lifestyle" brand projects.

"Hilton Hotels Corporation is aware that a lawsuit has been filed, but we have not yet seen a copy," a spokeswoman says. "We will respond appropriately in due course."

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