Commitments and Contingencies

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Guarantees

We present the maximum potential amount of our future guarantee fundings and the carrying amount of our liability for guarantees for which we are the primary obligor at March 31, 2017 in the following table:



($ in millions) Guarantee Type	Maximum Potential Amount of Future Fundings		Recorded Liability for Guarantees
Debt service	$	156	$	23
Operating profit	116		34
Other	8		2
Total guarantees where we are the primary obligor	$	280	$	59

Legal Proceedings

In November 2015, Starwood announced a malware intrusion had affected point of sale systems at various outlets within certain Legacy-Starwood branded hotels. This resulted in the potential compromise of credit card data and associated personal information. The affected credit card companies are evaluating whether and to what extent financial penalties should be imposed. In addition, a putative class action arising from the malware intrusion was filed against Starwood on January 5, 2016 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. The named plaintiff, Paul Dugas, does not specify any damages sought. Starwood initially filed a motion to dismiss that was granted in part and denied in part in November 2016. The plaintiff filed an amended complaint in December 2016, and in March 2017, we filed another motion to dismiss. On April 6, 2017, the court issued an Order to Show Cause why the case should not be dismissed for lack of subject matter jurisdiction, to which the parties have responded. A hearing has been scheduled for May 12, 2017.

On May 10, 2016, the owners of the Sheraton Grand Chicago and the Westin Times Square, New York, filed suit in the Supreme Court of New York against Starwood and Marriott seeking to enjoin the merger of the two companies. The complaint alleges violations of the territorial restrictions contained in the management agreements for those two hotels arising as a result of the merger of Marriott and Starwood. While the attempt to enjoin the merger ultimately failed, the underlying suit continued as a breach of contract claim, and plaintiffs seek, among other remedies, monetary damages relating to the alleged violations. We are evaluating alternatives for resolving the claims.

We do not expect either proceeding to have a significant impact on our consolidated results of operations as they both relate to matters existing as of the Merger Date.

Other Contingencies

See a description of certain contingencies relating to the Starwood Combination in Footnote 2 “Acquisitions and Dispositions.”