The former CEO of Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle claims that the new owner owes him $100,000.
J. Stuart Dornfeld accused Homestyle Hospitality LLC of unjust enrichment and breach of contract in a complaint filed July 6 in Westchester Supreme Court.
Dornfeld, of Manhattan’s Upper West Side, was head of Continental Hosts Ltd., the company that operated the Harbour Club from 1997 to 2018.
The Harbour Club is a popular wedding venue and banquet facility on Long Island Sound, at the northern end of the county’s Glen Island Park.
Continental sold the business to Homestyle in 2018, according to the complaint, and Westchester County approved the transfer of the Harbour Club lease, according to a 2018 county press release.
Homestyle also partners with the county to run events at Westchester County Center and Dunwoodie Golf Course.
Hospitality was supposed to retain the on-site manager, executive chef, kitchen staff and wait staff, according to the county press release, “making this a seamless transition.”
The on-site manager was not identified but was described as the individual who had direct contact with groups that used the club.
Dornfeld says Hospitality did not hire him but it agreed to pay $227,000 in bonuses to Continental employees as part of the deal to buy the business, including $l00,000 to himself.
“Part of the purchase price … was contingent upon Homestyle paying Dornfeld $100,000,” the complaint states, but the company “never fulfilled its contractual obligation.”
Bedford Hills attorney Stephen M. Smith, who has represented Homestyle in an unrelated lawsuit, did not respond to an email request for comment.
Dornfeld is represented by Manhattan attorneys Margaret Wood and Arianna Moure.
