Protecting Key Business Relationships
Unless a business manufactures or sells truly unique items, chances are it will have competitors seeking to secure the same business opportunities. Competitors often use all tools at their disposal to secure that business, including targeting and offering employment to key employees of competitors and seizing upon those relationships and networks that the employee developed while employed by his or her former employer.
Like other companies that have sued former employees and their new employer for engaging in this type of conduct, Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc. recently commenced a lawsuit and seeks an injunction against three former Aon employees who went to work for Aon's competitor, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc. The case is Aon Risk Services Northeast, Inc. v. Kornblau, Case No. 10-CV-2244 (March 15, 2010 U.S. District Court S.D. N.Y.)
Aon claims that the former employees, with Marsh's participation, collectively tried to steal Aon's trade secrets, poach Aon's clients, and rob Aon of its key employees so that Aon no longer had brokers with existing relationships with the targeted clients. Significantly, the complaint alleges that within weeks of the departure of the former employees, Marsh obtained a significant amount of business from Aon clients that transferred their accounts to Marsh.
What makes this case worthy of mention is that Aon describes in the complaint how the former employees wrongfully downloaded and accessed key computer files. According to the complaint, a forensic review revealed that in the days and weeks prior to their resignations, the employees accesses, copied, and deleted hundreds of files, and used portable external storage devices on their Aon computers. One former employee accessed a database 239 times where in the previous one year period, she had accessed the drive only twice. This evidence is usually damaging and can be compelling to a judge deciding a preliminary injunction motion.
The Complaint also describes Aon's efforts to help its employees develop goodwill with their customers in the competitive insurance industry. It is these relationships that give rise to a claim against the former employees for breach of fiduciary duty - even though only one of the former employees had a signed Employment Agreement with restrictive covenants. Thus, it is a good example of how a company can assert claims to protect its interests - even in the absence of a signed non-compete or non-solicitation agreement.
We will monitor the case to see whether the Court grants the requested injunction and will update this post accordingly.