NU Online News Service, Jan. 3, 10:30 a.m. EST

Insurance broker Aon won another round in its ongoing dispute with Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. over the poaching of business and employees, which allegedly did serious harm to Aon's Construction Services Group.

Aon won a preliminary injunction against Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattanon Dec. 20, baring former Aon employee Michael Cusack and Alliant from soliciting business from or entering into any business with Aon customers that any former Aon employees now with Alliant had worked for. It also bars Alliant from soliciting any Aon Construction Services employees to come to work for the company.

In his decision, Justice Bernard J. Fried, found Cusack and others violated their non-compete agreements when they left Aon and joined Alliant.

The judge says Cusack, who worked in the Northeast, and others had to know that executives in Aon's Construction Services Group were negotiating with Alliant and that they would all be leaving Aon at the same time.

Fried says that if the case should go to trial Aon is likely to succeed in its claim that Cusack breached an employment agreement and other related standards of his employment. Aon is also likely to succeed in its claim that Cusack breached his non-compete agreement, the judge says.

However, Fried says there is no evidence that Cusack or other employees made off with any company trade secrets.

The determination was another in a series of decisions against Alliant that courts have made since employees of the CSG began leaving in June of 2001.

In June of last year a Chicago court made a similar finding against Alliant.

According to Judge Fried's decision, the Aon group eventually lost 60 employees to Alliant with more than 100 broker-of-record letters transferring more than $20 million in revenue from Aon to Alliant.

On the day Cusack and Peter Arkley, former chief executive officer of Aon CSG left, 15 Aon clients moved their business to Alliant and 38 employees in the group left to join Alliant.

Special Reports /

Aon Gains Another Victory in Alliant Hiring Dispute

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