Ace Group says competitor OneBeacon and eight former Ace employees conspired to steal trade secrets before their “coordinated resignations.”

In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Eastern Pennsylvania by Philadelphia-based Ace American Insurance Co. against OneBeacon U.S. Holdings, Ace claims its entire East Coast surety department resigned during the afternoon of July 30 within a span of about 15 minutes.

Each former Ace employee was hired to “largely or exclusively” comprise OneBeacon's surety department, alleges Ace.

But before they resigned, the eight employees named in the lawsuit, in coordination with OneBeacon, organized an “employee raid to obtain and use Ace's trade secrets,” alleges Ace.

An examination of emails revealed a substantial amount was deleted by the employees before leaving for OneBeacon

The suit specifically highlights Chad A. Anderson, who was in charge of Ace's East Coast surety operations.Andersondid not meet his duty of loyalty to Ace and concealed the planned resignations of his colleagues and himself, Ace charges.

“OneBeacon and the surety employees are now using Ace's trade secrets to, among other things, solicit Ace clients,” reads the suit.

Ace further alleges that its competitor's purpose was to “cripple or destroy” Ace's surety group on the East Coast, and it paid the eight employees well above market value to do so.

Carmen Duarte, vice president, marketing and communications for OneBeacon, tells PC360, “We are confident that ultimately the courts will find in our favor for the simple reason that OneBeacon and our new surety employees have done nothing wrong. We look forward to building our new surety business going forward.”

OneBeacon on Sept. 7 announced the formation OneBeacon Surety Group, with Anderson as its president. The unit will focus on commercial surety business targetting middle-market Fortune 2500 companies in all 50 states as well as Puerto Rico, Canada and Mexico, according to a statement.

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Ace Sues OneBeacon for &lsquo;Employee Raid,&rsquo; Theft of Trade Secrets

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Ace Sues OneBeacon for ‘Employee Raid,’ Theft of Trade Secrets