Aon is suing Howden US and two former employees for alleged poaching and theft of trade secrets.
Howden, which launched its U.S. retail branch in August, is also being sued by Marsh for similar reasons. In a court filing, Aon said Howden US is also in a legal battle with WTW.
According to Aon, Howden is “attempting to gain a foothold in the U.S. market by poaching employees and clients from established U.S.-operating brokerages by encouraging disloyal employees to solicit entire teams to abandon their positions and replicate the same work for Howden.”
In documents filed December 11, Aon filed suit against Anthony Rampersaud, a former managing director with Aon, and Nancy Montalvo, a former assistant vice president, as well as Howden US.
The company says Rampersaud sent boxes of Aon’s confidential and proprietary information to his home, using Aon’s FedEx account, before he and six others on his team resigned and joined Howden US. Aon says Montalvo forwarded a client list of 55 names to her personal email address before also resigning.
The resignations happened within minutes of each other on Nov. 25, shortly after Rampersaud returned from a business trip to London — paid for by Aon — where he allegedly met with Howden’s founder and CEO.
Aon says it continues to investigate and expects what has already been found to be “just the tip of the iceberg.” More than 45 other Aon employees have resigned in groups to join Howden since September, according to the suit.
Aon is seeking injunctions to bar further solicitation of its employees and clients and to require that all of its property be returned. The company is also seeking monetary and punitive damages.
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