Culinary launches new attack against Aladdin buyer

Tuesday, Feb. 24, 2004 | 10:58 a.m.

In a new shot at Planet Hollywood International Inc. Chairman Robert Earl's bid to buy the bankrupt Aladdin, Culinary Union officials sent a letter Monday to Nevada gaming regulators charging that the themed-restaurant operator's business record raises questions about his suitability for licensing as a Nevada casino operator.

The letter is part of the Culinary's organizing campaign, which has been resisted by the current Aladdin owner and is aimed at pressuring Earl's group.

The 11-page letter to state Gaming Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander and his two colleagues on the board claims that Earl and fellow Aladdin buyer Douglas Teitelbaum as well as other Planet Hollywood insiders have a "history of conflict-ridden insider transactions and questionable corporate governance, findings of possible management misconduct..., continuing operational problems at Planet Hollywood," as well as other serious issues that raise "serious concerns regarding the business competence of (Earl and Teitelbaum)."

The union said the Aladdin workers' employment security and the health of the Las Vegas gaming industry depend on regulators ensuring the business competence and integrity of the property's next owners.

Earl told the Wall Street Journal last week that: "We have lots of union issues." Earl was unavailable for comment this morning.

Control Board Chairman Dennis Neilander said he had yet to read the letter, but said that information submitted to the board regarding license applicants such as Earl and his partners would be forwarded to the agents investigating the license application. He said the Earl and Teitelbaum license applications are now being "actively investigated," but declined to predict when the investigations would be finished.