Chef Richard Hales suing Hyatt hotels for breach of contract
When he was called into a meeting on March 18 at The Confidante Miami Beach hotel, Chef Richard Hales thought it was going to be to “high five each other, saying, ‘Hey, man, we had a great year.’”
That wasn’t the case. Instead, Hales was let go.
Hales says the Hyatt-run hotel fired him for the “poor performance” of his in-house restaurant, Bird & Bone, which he opened there in 2016. And on April 26, he filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Hyatt, suing them for more than $30,000.
“I was shocked,” said Hales, whose Grateful Hospitality company also includes Blackbrick Chinese in Midtown, Sakaya Kitchen and Society BBQ. “We were having the best year ever... then they stomped on top of me.”
Hales couldn’t understand why his contract was terminated. Now he’s fighting to keep the name of the company he created.
“I own Bird & Bone and all the intellectual property of it. I licensed it, created it and licensed it to them. It was all very successful-from the beach and pool area to in-room dining, the banquet facility and bar-and they terminated me. They’re steamrolling over me.”
The Confidante’s general manager, Amy Johnson, told the Miami Herald that the hotel, which has suspended all operations because of COVID-19, plans to do something different.
“The Confidante Miami Beach has parted ways with Chef Hales and will be introducing a new culinary experience within the Bird & Bone space soon. We thank Chef Hales for his collaboration over the last three-plus years,” she said.
Hales’ contract was for 12 years, and according to the lawsuit, Hyatt canceled it for “non-performance.”
Hales’ attorney, Kenneth Damas of the firm AdornoCunill & Damas, says it all boils down to corporate greed.
“When he took over the hotel’s F&B, within the first year, he basically quadrupled the numbers,” Damas said. “Then [they] said, ‘You weren’t making the numbers.’ But they didn’t provide any accounting.”
When Hyatt refused to turn over the accounting, Damas said, Hales filed suit.
“It’s basically the big guys taking advantage of the small guys,” Damas said. “Everyone’s hurting, and to add insult to injury, they told him he didn’t fulfill his contract. We tried to work it out with their corporate counsel, but our attempts and requests were met with deaf ears.”
Hales was especially taken aback when the restaurant’s Instagram account was deleted. “Why are they trying to destroy me?” Hales said. “I don’t understand what they’re doing. We have a contract, but it’s not their product. I licensed it; I own it. Just like I complied with every part of the contract, they have to do the same.”
When Hales emailed Johnson about it, she replied to him in an email shared with the Miami Herald, “We did change the log in and we have deleted the Instagram account, so in fact, we are not using the Bird & Bone trademark at all in connection with Instagram activities. We will cooperate with you and Instagram should you desire to create a new Instagram account using the same handle.”
Hales is no stranger to setbacks. In July 2019, Sakaya Kitchen faced eviction from its Midtown Miami location. “They filed an eviction, but we settled the case and Richard is current. He is not losing Sakaya. The Judge hasn’t signed the dismissal as of yet,” Damas said. Hales also said he’d be revamping his first-born brick and mortar restaurant.
And in September, 2018, Hales was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, during which time two benign brain tumors impeded his treatment. “I had a brain tumor and two craniotomy and thyroid cancer,” Hales said. But he prevailed. “I’m good now. I didn’t realize how sick I was, actually. Because after, I felt like I was reborn.”
The Miami Herald reached out to the Hyatt’s attorney for comments, but no response was made available at the time of publishing.