A US judge has ruled that Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc will be allowed to pursue a case against two of its former executives who allegedly stole trade secrets. Amar Lalvani and Ross Klein left the hotel group in 2008 to join rivals Hilton Worldwide. United States District Judge, Stephen Robinson, said this week that there was enough evidence to demonstrate that the pair accessed computer files without any authorization, and stole documents containing confidential information.

Hilton Worldwide has been trying to have the case dismissed. In a 19-page opinion, Judge Robinson said that there was evidence that Lalvani and Klein had accessed Starwood’s computer system and transferred electronic files to their home accounts after accepting roles at the Hilton group.

The information contained in thousands of documents was then apparently passed to Hilton. In a statement, Hilton said that the ruling would have no impact on the outcome of the case, and that it simply meant that the situation would be allowed to move forward to the next phase of litigation.

Lalvani’s lawyer, Christopher Morvillo, said that he could not comment on the ruling until he had taken time to study the decision. Lawyers for Mr Klein and Starwood have so far declined to comment.

Hilton previously asked that the case be settled through arbitration. However, Judge Robinson decided to retain jurisdiction on two of Starwood’s claims. Hilton was sued by Starwood in April 2009 because it claimed that Lalvini and Klein were developing a new hotel line for Hilton using Starwood information which they had no permission to have access to.