A hospitality industry executive search firm that was sued by a New York hotel operator in a lawsuit seeking $5 million in punitive damages said the allegations in the lawsuit are false.

The Staffing Industry Daily News reported yesterday Amsterdam Hospitality Group had sued Marshall-Alan Associates, alleging the firm recruited workers for the hotel operator but later recruited the workers away to other companies in an effort to generate more fees.

“We only recently received the complaint which was a complete surprise, considering Marshall-Alan had terminated our relationship with Amsterdam Hospitality Group over a year ago,” Alan Massarsky, president of Marshall-Alan Associates said in a statement.

“Marshall-Alan is renowned as one of the best hospitality executive search firms in the industry, and has nearly 30 years of experience working with some of the most exclusive hotel companies in the world,” Massarsky said. “At this point I can only say that the allegations are false and we look forward to fully defending these claims on their merits.”