- Joined
- Jun 6, 2005
- Messages
- 33,403
- Reaction score
- 10,021
- Location
- The Centennial State
- Resorts Owned
- Wyndham Founder; Disney OKW & SSR; Marriott's Willow Ridge and Shadow Ridge,Grand Chateau; Val Chatelle; Hono Koa OF (3); SBR(LOTS), SDO a few; Grand Palms(selling); WKORV-OF ,Westin Desert Willow.
N THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF
DELAWARE, Plaintiffs STEVEN ERIC KIRCHNER, ELIZABETH LEE
KIRCHNER, and MARCIA RICHARDS, Individually and on behalf of all
persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, vs. WYNDHAM VACATION RESORTS
INC., Defendant. No. 1:20-CV-00436-RGA-JLH Filed 7/15/2022
DECLARATION OF DANIELLE HENDERSON
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, Danielle Henderson declares:
l . I was Vice President, Resort Operations with Travel + Leisure Co. (T L),
formerly Wyndham Destinations Inc., the parent company of Wyndham Vacation
Resorts Inc., until my departure from the company in April 2021. T + L is the
world's largest vacation ownership business. Club Wyndham is one of the brand
names of T + L.
2. I was with T + L for nearly 19 years and served on the Club Wyndham
Board of Directors before my position was abruptly eliminated, I believe my position
was eliminated because I brought an integrity concern to the CEO, Mike Brown,
regarding the Executive Vice President of Human Resources Kim Marshall and
General Counsel, Jim Savina. My concerns were validated by other colleagues prior
to my addressing it with CEO Mike Brown.
3. To provide background, I was a top performer and rcspcctcd leader within
the company. Some of my responsibilities included overseeing multimillion dollar
budgets, capital spending, quality controls, policies and procedures, systems, process
improvement, new technology for Resorts and insurance claim management for over
1 80 locations. During my tenure, I worked in many different divisions which
provided me with valuable experience and insight of how the business operates.
4. To date, I have not accepted a severance package and I revoked acceptance
of an offer made by T + L in August 2021. I am not receiving any compensation for
the information I am sharing with PlaintiffS in this case. Everything I am prepared to
testify about is common knowledge and documented within the organization. I
reviewed this lawsuit (which was public) and I believe that I can assist in explaining
a very complicated business model which will validate the PlaintiffS' claims. There
are also documents, databases, reports, emails, power point presentations, standard
operating procedures and training content that will validate my testimony.
5. I am prepared to testify that T + L improperly allocates and misappropriates
owner inventory for its own financial gain, which severely reduces the availability of
accommodations for owners. This is important because the Plaintiffs claim that they
are unable to find availability on the Club Wyndham owner website, but they can
find the exact same accommodations available when they searched on a third party
website like Expedia. T + L strategically decides which inventory (accommodations)
to make available for owners; it takes desirable inventory away from owners and
gives it to other "channels" that are profitable tör T + L and drive in new owners to
Club Wyndham.
6. I am prepared to testify that T L intentionally overbooks/oversells Resort
accommodations, which results in a reduction of what accommodations are available
for owners. Owners who have reservations for a specific unit type may not receive
what they booked because it will not be available due to overbooking of the property.
7. I am prepared to testify that T + L misuses fixed week invent01Y by
including it in its own inventory optimization strategy. It allows guests who are not
the owner of the fixed week unit to occupy the unit dining the owmer's fixed time.
Legally, fixed week units are to be held for the owner for the entirety of the stay. T+
L is not compensating the actual owner of the fixed week unit when they "borrow"
their inventory for another guest. This is important because it demonstrates how T +
L improperly manages the inventory and what is available for owners to use.
8. I am prepared to testiö/ that CEO Mike Brown is aware of seven Customer
Pain Points, onc of which is specific to inventory availability. Mike Brown created
this initiative and is responsible for its content. This is important because it
demonstrates T + L senior leadership is well aware of the availability issue and
continues to force owners to remain in their contracts even while knowing that its
business practices are the direct causes of the problems being experienced by owners.
9. To my knowledge, none of the foregoing is disclosed to owners before they
sign their timeshare purchase agreements.
Further Declarant Sayeth Not.
I. certify under penalty of perjury under the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this day of April, 2022.
Danielle Henderson
DELAWARE, Plaintiffs STEVEN ERIC KIRCHNER, ELIZABETH LEE
KIRCHNER, and MARCIA RICHARDS, Individually and on behalf of all
persons similarly situated, Plaintiffs, vs. WYNDHAM VACATION RESORTS
INC., Defendant. No. 1:20-CV-00436-RGA-JLH Filed 7/15/2022
DECLARATION OF DANIELLE HENDERSON
Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. 1746, Danielle Henderson declares:
l . I was Vice President, Resort Operations with Travel + Leisure Co. (T L),
formerly Wyndham Destinations Inc., the parent company of Wyndham Vacation
Resorts Inc., until my departure from the company in April 2021. T + L is the
world's largest vacation ownership business. Club Wyndham is one of the brand
names of T + L.
2. I was with T + L for nearly 19 years and served on the Club Wyndham
Board of Directors before my position was abruptly eliminated, I believe my position
was eliminated because I brought an integrity concern to the CEO, Mike Brown,
regarding the Executive Vice President of Human Resources Kim Marshall and
General Counsel, Jim Savina. My concerns were validated by other colleagues prior
to my addressing it with CEO Mike Brown.
3. To provide background, I was a top performer and rcspcctcd leader within
the company. Some of my responsibilities included overseeing multimillion dollar
budgets, capital spending, quality controls, policies and procedures, systems, process
improvement, new technology for Resorts and insurance claim management for over
1 80 locations. During my tenure, I worked in many different divisions which
provided me with valuable experience and insight of how the business operates.
4. To date, I have not accepted a severance package and I revoked acceptance
of an offer made by T + L in August 2021. I am not receiving any compensation for
the information I am sharing with PlaintiffS in this case. Everything I am prepared to
testify about is common knowledge and documented within the organization. I
reviewed this lawsuit (which was public) and I believe that I can assist in explaining
a very complicated business model which will validate the PlaintiffS' claims. There
are also documents, databases, reports, emails, power point presentations, standard
operating procedures and training content that will validate my testimony.
5. I am prepared to testify that T + L improperly allocates and misappropriates
owner inventory for its own financial gain, which severely reduces the availability of
accommodations for owners. This is important because the Plaintiffs claim that they
are unable to find availability on the Club Wyndham owner website, but they can
find the exact same accommodations available when they searched on a third party
website like Expedia. T + L strategically decides which inventory (accommodations)
to make available for owners; it takes desirable inventory away from owners and
gives it to other "channels" that are profitable tör T + L and drive in new owners to
Club Wyndham.
6. I am prepared to testify that T L intentionally overbooks/oversells Resort
accommodations, which results in a reduction of what accommodations are available
for owners. Owners who have reservations for a specific unit type may not receive
what they booked because it will not be available due to overbooking of the property.
7. I am prepared to testify that T + L misuses fixed week invent01Y by
including it in its own inventory optimization strategy. It allows guests who are not
the owner of the fixed week unit to occupy the unit dining the owmer's fixed time.
Legally, fixed week units are to be held for the owner for the entirety of the stay. T+
L is not compensating the actual owner of the fixed week unit when they "borrow"
their inventory for another guest. This is important because it demonstrates how T +
L improperly manages the inventory and what is available for owners to use.
8. I am prepared to testiö/ that CEO Mike Brown is aware of seven Customer
Pain Points, onc of which is specific to inventory availability. Mike Brown created
this initiative and is responsible for its content. This is important because it
demonstrates T + L senior leadership is well aware of the availability issue and
continues to force owners to remain in their contracts even while knowing that its
business practices are the direct causes of the problems being experienced by owners.
9. To my knowledge, none of the foregoing is disclosed to owners before they
sign their timeshare purchase agreements.
Further Declarant Sayeth Not.
I. certify under penalty of perjury under the foregoing is true and correct.
Executed on this day of April, 2022.
Danielle Henderson
