A federal judge in Manhattan has extended an order blocking three Alliant Insurance Services employees from soliciting or contacting any current Marsh & McLennan Agency (MMA) clients or using a spreadsheet of MMA clients that MMA alleges they took when they abruptly resigned.
In issuing a preliminary injunction that will be in effect until the legal case between the two agencies is resolved, U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil concluded that MMA has shown it is likely to suffer irreparable harm without such an injunction and that it is likely to succeed on the merits of some of its claims against Alliant and its former employees.
The preliminary injunction is against Johnny Osborne, a former producer in MMA’s Huntsville, Alabama office, and two members of his MMA team, Rachel Murray and Margaux Stone— all three of whom simultaneously resigned from MMA on December 16, 2024, without notice, to join Alliant.
The preliminary injunction succeeds a temporary restraining order that expired January 28.
New York-headquartered MMA and California-based Alliant are two of the biggest insurance agencies in the country.
Alliant opposed the restraining order as anti-competitive, relying on a prior case involving similar allegation between Marsh and Alliant in which Alliant maintained a court concluded that the “types of restrictive covenants Marsh is seeking to enforce are unenforceable as a matter of law.”
However, Judge Vyskocil dismissed that argument, noting that the case Alliant relies on is an “outlier” and is not representative of the body of the law on such agreements. In fact, the judge added, New York courts will enforce a restrictive covenant “to the extent necessary to protect an employer’s relationships and goodwill.”
Alliant Employees Blocked From Soliciting Former MMA Clients
MMA asked for the preliminary order against its former employees in order to stem further loss of business from what it claims has been a scheme orchestrated by Alliant to poach MMA’s employees and solicit MMA’s clients. MMA maintains that within 24 hours of it discovering the resignations, at least four of Osborne’s clients had moved their business to Alliant and by the end of that week, at least 16 had moved, and there were “no signs of slowing.”
The judge found that Alliant has not offered any evidence to rebut MMA’s case that Osborne misused its confidential information and solicited its clients and employees in violation of his MMA agreement.
MMA maintains that Osborne, Stone and Murray each executed a nonsolicitation and confidentiality agreement when joining MMA and each agreed that for two years following the separation of their employment with MMA, they would not, directly or indirectly, solicit or service MMA clients or prospective clients. MMA alleges in its complaint that the three are in breach of their nonsolicitation and confidentiality agreements.
Osborne managed a book of business for MMA that generated approximately $1.6 million in annual revenue. Stone and Murray handled the day-to-day servicing for many of the clients.
The judge concluded that MMA “clearly is entitled” to a prohibitory injunction against Osborne and Alliant to prevent further losses of client relationships and customer goodwill, further solicitation of MMA employees, and further use or disclosure of protected confidential information. However, the judge declined to extend the order against nonparties to the suit who may act in concert with Alliant.
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