Court-Ordered Mediation Remains Unscheduled

DALLAS-The Dallas-Fort Worth feud, akin to the Hatfields and McCoys, has yet to schedule a mediation date. LaSalle Hotel Properties and Le Meridien were to have sat down to talk this month, but scheduling conflicts on both sides have pushed the confab into September.

The corporations were ordered to mediate a contract termination that puts Le Meridien on the streets after being the sole operator of the 22-year-old, 407-room hotel in Dallas’ Plaza of the Americas. LaSalle has won its case twice in court, but under the system is now forced to mediate the dispute. If the two can’t reach an agreement, the case goes back to court and a final ruling.

LaSalle also is trying to give Le Meridien the boot at its 497-room Canal Street hotel in New Orleans. That legal maneuver is being handled more quietly under a closed-door mediation requirement.

The LaSalle-Le Meridien feud has been simmering since the first quarter, going before the courts for the first time in May. “The wheels of justice move slowly,” Michael Barnello, LaSalle’s COO, tells GlobeSt.com. “We’re going to get them out. It’s just a question of when.” Will that happen this year? “We hope so,” Barnello replies.

LaSalle, though, claims that each day Le Meridien stays put is another day it’s owed compensation in its bid to oust the London-based hotelier. LaSalle has said it will seek compensatory damages for all costs associated with the delay in taking back its properties.

Le Meridien has not returned telephone calls for comment about the litigation. As the battle goes on, it appears Le Meridien could win its prior bid to stay the case until November.