The Nevada Humane Society has accused Quatro of violating that original order.
Whitney Derrah, Quatro’s attorney, said they are hoping to shed more light on Quatro’s claim to ownership over the event as the suit continues to unfold — something she said her client has not yet had the opportunity to do in the quick-moving case.
“I just want it to be clear that at no time did Ms. Quatro ever intend or expect this fundraising event to become the subject of litigation,” Derrah said. “It’s obviously very upsetting to her.”
Original story:
A popular benefit that raises money for homeless animals is in jeopardy after a legal fight erupted over who owns rights to the fundraiser, according to court documents obtained by the Reno Gazette Journal.
The Nevada Humane Society filed suit against well-known local marketing person and event planner Christi Quatro on Feb. 1 alleging she stole the name, logo and idea for the nonprofit’s annual Heels & Hounds fundraiser.
“This is harming us, it’s harming us tremendously,” said Nevada Humane Society CEO Greg Hall. “And that is the reason we had to take the step of filing suit.”
“Our donor dollars are precious; we don’t exist without donors,” Hall said. “To have to spend donor dollars on a lawsuit is a last choice for us. But we own this event, it’s clear we own this event — it’s not really subject to too much debate.”
Quatro, who worked at the Nevada Humane Society until 2015 and was later hired as an independent contractor to help plan the event, registered a trade name for the Heels & Hounds event last year with the Nevada Secretary of State before posting a “save the date” to social media for a 2019 Heels & Hounds event of her own.
The Nevada Humane Society has held the fundraiser annually since 2015. Quatro was on a committee of Nevada Humane Society employees who helped start the first Heels & Hounds, according to the filings.
Reached via phone, Quatro said she needed to speak with her lawyer before commenting, then never returned subsequent calls from the Reno Gazette Journal.
Calls to Quatro’s attorney Whitney Derrah also went unanswered.
Labor attorney weighs in Anthony Hall, a partner at the local Simons Hall Johnston law firm who specializes in labor and employment law, said Quatro’s claim to ownership over the Heels & Hounds name and event appears to have little legal footing.
Anthony Hall, who is not involved in the lawsuit, and Nevada Humane Society CEO Greg Hall are not related.
“It sounds very thin to me,” said Anthony Hall, who often deals with trademark and ownership disputes.
The Nevada Humane Society never trademarked or registered a trade name — also known as a “registered mark” — for the event, but Anthony Hall said they likely have a legally enforceable expectation of ownership over it.
The law recognizes prior use, Anthony Hall explained. If the Nevada Humane Society can prove the Heels & Hounds name and event is theirs and something they’ve used before, Quatro’s registered mark will probably be invalidated, he said.
Quatro’s employment with the Nevada Humane Society when the event was conceived adds another layer of likelihood that the nonprofit owns the name and event, according to Anthony Hall.
“It sounds like (Heels & Hounds) was created while she was an employee. … If that timeline is correct, there’s another presumption under Nevada law that the things you create while employed belong to the employer,” he said.
Unclear who would benefit from Quatro’s event Money raised during the Nevada Humane Society’s annual Heels & Hounds funnels directly into the nonprofit’s general fund and helps feed, house and otherwise care for homeless animals in Northern Nevada.
It is unclear where money raised for Quatro’s competing event would go, and there are no beneficiaries listed on the event’s website, which is now stripped of the Heels & Hounds name.
A “save the date” post promoting the event on Quatro’s personal Facebook page simply says her version of the event is “benefitting homeless pets in Northern Nevada.”
The two competing events, which are scheduled to take place just one week apart in April, bear the same name and feature near-identical fashion shows, a pet adoption and auction.
A temporary restraining order against Quatro has barred her from using the Heels & Hounds name, though the Nevada Humane Society has formally accused her of violating that order since it was issued on Feb. 4.
Details of the dispute in court In addition to Quatro allegedly taking the Heels & Hounds name and event format without the authority to do so, the suit claims she disparaged the Nevada Humane Society and interfered with the nonprofit’s business dealings.
Quatro contacted the Silver Legacy Resort and Casino — which was in negotiations with the Nevada Humane Society to be the venue for the 2019 event — and claimed ownership over Heels & Hounds and accused the nonprofit of holding the event to “spite” her, according to court filings reviewed by the RGJ.
In the email, which was included in the filings, Quatro claims she has “owned and produced” the event for the last four years before asserting she would be serving the Nevada Humane Society with a cease and desist order for their use of the name.
“I don’t want the Legacy to get caught in the legality of this, but it’s getting serious and as you can imagine, a little ridiculous as I have been planning my event for months and they are just trying to spite me,” Quatro wrote in the January email to the Silver Legacy.
That email resulted in the Silver Legacy declining to be the venue for the Nevada Humane Society’s Heels & Hounds event until the legal spat gets sorted out, putting the event in jeopardy of happening at all, according to Greg Hall.
Despite Quatro’s claim of ownership in her email to the Silver Legacy, she has previously signed an agreement with the Humane Society acknowledging it is the sole owner of the Heels & Hounds name and event.
That agreement, included in the filings, was part of the contract for Quatro and her company Big Fish Consulting Solutions to assist in the planning of the Nevada Humane Society’s 2018 Heels & Hounds fundraiser.
Anthony Hall, the labor and employment attorney, said that agreement could be the crux of this legal dispute.
“If there’s an agreement specifically saying that as an independent contractor she’s using the name but she doesn’t own it or retain the right to it, that’s a big strike against her,” he said.
What’s next? With their spring fundraiser currently in limbo, Greg Hall says the Nevada Humane Society is scrambling to find a new venue in time to keep its planned April 7 date but has so far struck out.
The event usually brings the shelter about $45,000 a year.
If the Nevada Humane Society is not able to hold the event, the loss of that money will not prevent animals from being fed or housed, and employees will still be paid, according to Hall, but it will have an effect on the organization.
“Not having this event is a big hit for us in addition to having to pay legal fees to enforce our rights. …That’s one of the reasons we will likely have to follow through on this,” Greg Hall said, adding that the Nevada Humane Society will likely seek damages in the suit.
Published Feb 14, 2009Sam Gross
