Intercontinental Hotels Gouges Holiday Inn Franchises, Suit Says

Intercontinental Hotels Group, one of the world’s largest hotel companies, was hit with federal antitrust claims in New Orleans over an alleged kickback scheme aimed at gouging Holiday Inn franchise owners by forcing them to do business with affiliated vendors.

The proposed class action was filed late Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana by two franchise owners. It alleges a wide-ranging scheme to turn them into captive customers with no choice but to pay exorbitant prices that IHG’s vendor affiliates kick back to it.

The goal of the “unlawful, abusive, fraudulent, anti-competitive, and ...