Tiffany & Co. At Center Of Human Resources, Hollywood Tumult

The luxury jewelry retailer Tiffany & Co. TIF is at the center of two very different developments, one involving in-person demands on its corporate workforce and the other involving the rights to a classic film that made the store a pop culture phenomenon.

Back In The Office: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton LVMUY, the parent company of Tiffany, is ordering its employees to return to its New York City office for two days a week beginning March 1.

According to a Wall Street Journal report citing unnamed people familiar with the situation, LVMH sent a memo to its staff insisting it was "critical at this time of change that we adopt a hybrid approach to onsite-remote working."

LVMH completed its acquisition of Tiffany on Jan. 7 for $15.8 billion — the company initially announced the transaction would cost $16.3 billion — and brought in new leadership, including former Louis Vuitton Executive Vice President Anthony Ledru as CEO and former Louis Vuitton Chairman and CEO Michael Burke as chairman of the board of directors.

The Tiffany chain was founded in 1837 and operates more than 300 stores worldwide.

The Wall Street Journal's anonymous sources said the return-to-the-office order is in keeping with the scheduling within LVMH's companies in the U.S. and France.

Employees will be required to have temperature checks before entering the office, and mask-wearing and social distancing protocols will be in place.

Big Screen Tussle: Separately, an iconic film inspired by Tiffany is at the center of a legal fight.

The charitable trust that handles the estate of Truman Capote, the author of the novella "Breakfast at Tiffany's," has sued Paramount Pictures, a division of ViacomCBS VIAC, over remake rights to the property.

Paramount produced the beloved 1961 film "Breakfast at Tiffany's" starring Audrey Hepburn, and the studio was sued last November by Alan Schwartz, the trustee of the charity, who said the studio lost the rights to the property by failing to live up to a 1991 agreement related to sequel and prequel rights to the film within three years.

Paramount never revisited the property for a new production, and now the Capote estate is reportedly shopping the concept for a television series based on "Breakfast at Tiffany's."

However, Hollywood Reporter has previewed the studio's defense: Paramount said that it has a screenplay for a new version of the 1961 film and will argue in court that it still retains the foreign rights to the property.

Paramount filed its court documents in the cast last week in U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, and a trial date has yet to be scheduled.