A seller of sightseeing tours on the Las Vegas Strip is denying lawsuit allegations that it wrongly hired a competitor’s former workers and stole its trade secrets.
One Stop Ticket and Tour Shop Inc. filed suit last month in Clark County District Court against Adventures International LLC.
One Stop says it has 10 marketing locations in Las Vegas selling show and sightseeing tickets and that it was harmed when Adventures International, with six local locations, hired some former employees who had signed confidentiality agreements with One Stop.
Clark County District Court Judge Stefany Miley on Oct. 18 issued a temporary restraining order blocking Adventures from interfering with the noncompete agreements between One Stop and its former employees and ordering Adventures not to misappropriate One Stop’s trade secrets, including its pricing strategies.
The effect of the order was that Adventures International couldn’t employ three or four former One Stop workers who had signed noncompete agreements, an Adventures International attorney said.
But during a follow-up hearing last week, Miley dissolved the restraining order and the affected workers are back at work at Adventures International, said Adventures International attorney Brandon Phillips.
Given the evidence presented so far pitting the rights of the workers against the rights of One Stop, the judge said she didn’t want to deprive the employees of their jobs while the case proceeds.
The case will now head toward trial on One Stop’s claimed damages.
In fighting the One Stop lawsuit, Adventures International has argued that in the tour-ticket selling industry, there are no secret pricing strategy trade secrets, as the tour companies set price ranges for their tours and ticket sellers can’t deviate from that schedule. These tours cover locations such as the Grand Canyon, Hoover Dam and locations in Las Vegas.
Adventures International also argued it didn’t solicit the employees at issue, who independently applied for work at Adventures after leaving One Stop, and that Adventures International had no knowledge of their noncompete agreements.
“Each party had been fired by plaintiff and needed employment to support their families,” Adventures International manager Madgy Amer said in a court declaration.