Kona Grill restaurant in Phoenix. Photo: JJava Designs/Shutterstock.comAfter Major Workforce Cut, Hospitality Group Hires a General Counsel
"Maria is a strategic thinker with an extensive legal background and will be a vital asset to our entire organization," CEO Emanuel Hilario said in the press release. "We are confident that her insights will be invaluable as we continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value."
June 25, 2020 at 03:42 PM
3 minute read
The ONE Group Hospitality Inc., the Denver-based company that owns STK Steakhouse and Kona Grill, announced this week the hiring of Maria Woods as its general counsel.
In addition to leading the company's legal department, Woods will also serve as the corporate secretary. Linda Siluk, the company's chief administrative officer, previously held the role of corporate secretary. Siluk has resigned to pursue other career opportunities, according to the press release.
"I look forward to applying my extensive legal experience in the food and beverage industry, and to provide strategic counsel to the company to continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value," Woods said in a statement to Corporate Counsel.
Woods began her role as general counsel earlier this month. It is not clear who most recently served as the company's general counsel. Sonia Low, currently the general counsel, vice president and corporate secretary at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in New York, last served as The ONE Group's top lawyer in February 2019, according to her LinkedIn profile.
In March, the company announced that it reduced its workforce from 4,000 employees to less than 100 because of the new coronavirus, according to a report in FSR Magazine. During the company's annual review, CEO Emanuel Hilario said the pandemic has been the most challenging time he has ever experienced, according to a transcript of the call with investors.
"We have been forced to make very difficult and tough decisions that impact the team members we care so much about and of course our guests. The rapidly evolving Coronavirus pandemic has required a precedent action," Hilario said.
A spokesperson for the company told Corporate Counsel that since the last earnings call, the company has brought back over 2,000 employees and has re-opened all of its restaurant locations.
Woods most recently served as the general counsel of Lucky's Market in Boulder, Colorado. She has spent most of her career in-house. Before her role at Lucky's Market, she served as the general counsel at National CineMedia. She has also held in-house roles at Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Sun Microsystems, Requisite Technology and NetLibrary. After graduating from the University of Denver Sturm College Of Law in 1994, she worked as an associate at Holme, Roberts & Owen.
"Maria is a strategic thinker with an extensive legal background and will be a vital asset to our entire organization," Hilario said in the press release. "We are confident that her insights will be invaluable as we continue to drive growth and build long-term shareholder value."
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
'The Unheard of Superpower': How Women's Soft Skills Can Drive Success in Negotiations
Tales From the Trenches: What Outside Counsel Do That GCs Find Inexcusable
Venus Williams Tells WIPL Crowd: 'Living Your Dreams Should Be Easy'
The 2024 WIPL Awards: Law Firm Mentor and Mentee Collaboration
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
