Private jet war rocks ritzy Aspen as ultra-glamorous luxury travel executive is accused of shocking plot - and her LinkedIn photo looks VERY different to her unfiltered snaps
A woman was plucked from obscurity to become an executive at a top private jet firm in glitzy Aspen, Colorado, only to poach her boss's elite client list and launch a rival aviation company, a lawsuit alleged.
Gabrielle Sandino, 45, was dramatically fired from her position with Aspen Air in February after its president Richard Collins, 63, claimed he uncovered what he described as a calculated betrayal.
Sandino started a rival private jet firm called VisionAir, which Collins claimed was unfairly established using his painstakingly-built contacts, data and goodwill, according to the lawsuit.
The dramatic legal dogfight was first exposed by BusinessDen, with the Daily Mail subsequently reviewing the papers and chatting to Collins about his allegations.
After discovering the alleged deceit, Collins let Sandino go and issued a cease and desist, the lawsuit said. Sandino then allegedly deleted the company's vital Mailchimp marketing account in an act of retaliation, his lawsuit claimed.
Speaking with the Daily Mail, Collins said that the closure of the account wiped out roughly 5,000 emails and locked every other employee out of Aspen Air's LinkedIn page.
'It's a case of greed,' said Collins, who lives in a $1.2million home in the city, after he described how he hired Sandino, who resides in a $1.5million home in Basalt, from her retail job and 'taught her everything' he knew from his 30 years in the industry.
Collins said he first discovered what Sandino had done after a friend showed him VisionAir's website.
Gabrielle Sandino, pictured, was dramatically fired from her position with Aspen Air in February by its president, Richard Collins
According to his lawsuit, Collins, uncovered a shadow business of hers, named VisionAir, that he claimed she built on his goodwill and contacts
According to the suit, he formed the business in 2017, and then hired Sandino as a contractor in August of 2022 to help 'further develop' his business.
The legal filings claimed that Collins would hand Sandino access to his client and vendor lists so she could make sales on his behalf, as well as build relationships.
That October, the two entered into an agreement, which stipulated that any clients or information obtained by Sandino would be Collins's property if she was terminated, the lawsuit said.
The agreement allegedly included a confidentiality clause which prohibited the duplication of any of the company's information.
A non-compete was also agreed upon between the two, the suit said, allegedly prohibiting Sandino from competing directly with Collins's company for sixty days after the terms of her employment ended.
The suit claimed that in October of 2022, Sandino opened a Mailchimp account on behalf of Aspen Air to aid in the marketing of the business.
Collins's suit said that he paid for the service throughout this time, saying it was 'instrumental in growing' his business.
The following summer, Sandino ran a marketing campaign for the company, but listed her own personal number as the point of contact, the suit claimed.
After being called out for it, all other marketing materials were changed to include only Collins's email, cell number and web address, the suit added.
For the next three years, the two worked together in harmony - until Collins found out in November of last year that Sandino had founded her own firm.
In founding VisionAir while still under contract with his business, Collins claimed in his suit that Sandino directly violated their non-compete.
Prior to her job in aviation, Collins told the Daily Mail that Sandino, seen here, worked in retail
An aerial view Aspen, Colorado
Collins formed the business in 2017 before employing Sandino as a contractor in August of 2022 to help 'further develop' his business
He confronted her about it and, a week later on February 24, terminated her position from his company.
Although the suit claims that she was fired from her post, Collins told the Daily Mail that Sandino stood down from her position as he mulled over his next steps.
That same day, he issued her with a cease and desist letter claiming she was directly violating their agreement.
According to the suit, Sandino acknowledged the cease and desist but told Collins she would not be complying with it.
Not long after telling him she would not comply, Sandino is accused in the suit of logging into the Mailchimp account and shutting down the businesses profile.
In doing so, she deleted all client information. Fifty minutes later, she issued an email to 'some or all' of Collins's clients using her own business information, the suit said.
According to the filing, the email instructed customers to 'update their records and submit all requests' to Sandino's new email address, saying she had a new contact under the VisionAir name.
Collins said in his lawsuit that he later found out she had accessed his customer data platform, something she was 'generally not required to access.'
The suit said that while doing this, she 'improperly copied Plaintiff's customer information.'
Sandino (right) is accused in the suit of directly violating the agreement she made with Collins
Sandino has said she has never competed with her old employer and did nothing wrong
Last week a judge overseeing the case ruled in favored of Collins, temporarily closing down Sandino's company
Despite the cease and desist, Collins alleged in his suit that Sandino sent another email blast to his clients to market her new business and its services.
It is also claimed that she took out a four-month printed ad campaign on Collins's behalf, which had his name on it but also a cell number and QR code that directed contacts to herself.
'Sandino is actively using Plaintiff's goodwill and reputation to solicit the Aspen Air clients and customers she obtained from the CRM System and redirecting them to book competing services through VisionAir,' the suit alleged.
'The tortious conduct of VisionAir and Sandino has caused and will continue to cause Plaintiff injury.
'Including without limitation, lost business, attorney's fees and other expenses incurred in enforcing the Agreement.'
Judge Susan Ryan decided last week to temporarily shut down Sandino's company, ruling that she did in fact try to snag her former boss's clients while still working for him.
'(Gabrielle) Sandino is not permitted to contact Aspen Air's clients in this manner, and she should not profit from her improper actions,' the judge said, according to BusinessDen.
Sandino meanwhile has said she has never competed with her old employer and did nothing wrong, the outlet stated.
Instead, she defended VisionAir as a company that was launched to grow Aspen Air's serviced beyond the Colorado town, Sandino added.
A number of jets are seen parked at Aspen Airport in the Colorado city
'Those services were intended to establish (my) broader professional profile within private aviation and do not compete with Aspen Air's charter brokerage,' the disgraced executive said.
Ryan issued an injunction against Sandino three hours after Collins filed the lawsuit banning her and VisionAir from competing with Aspen Air and using the company's client list for 14 days.
The judge also held a hearing to decide whether to extend the injunction, as Sandino told Ryan in another affidavit that Aspen Air has been attempting to 'limit my ability to provide for my household.'
'I was fired and should be able to pursue work within another company that can support the backings of my air charters,' she told the judge.
Still, Ryan chose to side with Aspen Air, stating that she was not convinced by Sandino's reasoning for her new company.
Ryan has also ordered Sandino return any confidential documents that she has from her time at Aspen Air and has prohibited her from competing with her former employer for 60 days after her firing.
'The court appreciates that Sandino needs to earn a living but enjoining her in this case is a more conservative course of action and will protect both parties,' the judge concluded.
The Daily Mail contacted Sandino, who is representing herself, and an attorney for further comment.
