The former chief financial officer at Yitzhak Tshuva's Elad Properties, the company that set New York into a frenzy when it bought the iconic Plaza Hotel, says he's been fired because he's not Israeli.
Elad, which is renovating the Plaza Hotel bought in 2004 for $675 million, denies firing John Bove in October 2006 because he couldn't speak Hebrew. By the way, it's spending another $400 million on renovating the hundred-year old hotel, much of which wlil be converted into 182 luxury flats.
Bove told the Manhattan court that he'd worked with the company since 2005, to its satisfaction, as evident in the accolades and bonuses he received. He is demanding compensation and damages, as well as legal costs.
However, Bove was replaced by an Indian-American with no knowledge of Hebrew, Elad argues. Bove claims that he had been barred from monthly board meetings because they were conducted in Hebrew.
He also says the company has been systematically hiring Israelis, and that Elad had been slashing his responsibilities in stages.
Yitzhak Tshuva is one of Israel's more respected businessmen. He has extensive holdings in the real estate and energy sector, controlled through his sprawling Delek Group empire. Elad Properties, named for his son Elad, is just one of his many companies. It focuses mainly on investments in the U.S.
