Western Orthopaedic Association (WOA) has filed a lawsuit against Marriott for allegedly cancelling accommodations for the group’s annual meeting to accommodate the Los Angeles Rams.
Ortho Association Sues Marriott, LA Rams, and NFL
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WOA is a medical professional organization with over 1,500 members comprised of orthopedic professionals in the Western United States. It filed suit in Maryland federal court and listed the following as defendants: Marriott Acquisition 2002, LLC t/a VEA Newport Beach; Marriott International, Inc.; Marriott International Hotels, Inc.; The Los Angeles Rams, LLC; and The National Football League.
For the past 87 years WOA has, according to the complaint, “hosted an annual meeting for its 350 members, orthopedic surgeons and their families and associates.” These annual meetings are a venue for professionals to gather and exchange information as well as for professional development and continuing medical education.
In 2022, WOA purportedly entered into a sales agreement with VEA and Marriott for the use of VEA Newport Beach for the 2024 WOA Annual Meeting. The agreement purportedly provided WOA with over 1,300 rooms during a specific range of nights in August 2024 as well as other associated benefits and rooms related to the annual meeting.
In early December 2023, VEA allegedly notified WOA via telephone that VEA Newport Beach was no longer available for the August 2024 dates. VEA and Marriott purportedly “advised the WOA that the Newport Beach VEA was no longer available for the WOA Annual Meeting because the Rams had determined that the football team required use of VEA Newport Beach during the contracted time period of the Marriott Sales Agreement.”
WOA is also alleging that the Rams and the NFL had knowledge of the original sales agreement. WOA claims that even with this knowledge “the Rams and the NFL, jointly and/or severally, demanded that the Marriott Defendants accommodate the Rams and the NFL instead, and provide VEA Newport Beach to the Rams and the NFL during the dates of the Annual Meeting set forth in the Marriott Sales Agreement.”
WOA is claiming breach of contract against VEA and Marriott. WOA is claiming tortious interference with contractual relations against the Rams and the NFL. WOA is demanding compensatory damages in excess of $75,000.00 as well as other fees and costs.
As of the date of this article VEA, Marriott, the Rams, and the NFL have not yet filed a response.
According to the WOA website the 88th WOA Annual Meeting is scheduled for August 7-10, 2024. It is being held at the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach in Huntington Beach, California.
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This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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