That's the name of this opinion piece by Steven Schooner & Alan Morrison, two of the lawyers for the Cork Wine Bar in its unfair competition suit against Trump and his new hotel in D.C. (Subscription possibly required.) For more information about the suit, go to our original post about the suit. Here is an excerpt from the Schooner-Morrison piece:
The D.C. restaurant and hotel business is intensely competitive. Any new hotel, convenient to the White House and Congress, would attract business. But the Trump Hotel boasts a unique advantage: its owner is the president. Patrons flock there to curry favor with — or avoid the displeasure of — the hotel's and restaurants' beneficial owner, Trump. As one diplomat told The Washington Post: "Why wouldn't I stay at his hotel … [and] tell the new president, 'I love your new hotel!' Isn't it rude to ,,, say, 'I am staying at your competitor?'" This special and unfair advantage that Trump's hotel lords over its competitors forms the basis for our lawsuit. The allegations are simple. Cork is losing business to the Trump Hotel restaurants and its catering business because of the unfair advantage inherent in the owner being the president. Under D.C. law, that is unfair competition, because the president's ownership tilts the playing field in Trump's favor.
