Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. filed a lawsuit on Thursday against two former employees, alleging that they acted as “double agents” for another brokerage that one of them established.
In May 2019, Gallagher obtained the majority of the assets of RPA Insurance Services LLP, a company situated in Parsippany, New Jersey, as stated in the case filed in the U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The lawsuit involves Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. as the plaintiff, and Douglas Gatlin, Gundi Arnold (also known as Gundi Abell and Gundi Hofman-Abell), and Vertical Risk Management LLC as the defendants.
According to the lawsuit, at that time, Ms. Arnold held the position of an RPA producer, while Mr. Gatlin worked as an independent insurance consultant. Mr. Gatlin not only did some work for RPA but also ran his own independent agency.
According to the complaint, Ms. Arnold became a part of Gallagher right after the transaction was finalised, while Mr. Gatlin joined a few months afterwards. Both individuals became producers and agreed to abide by restrictive covenants.
Mr. Gatlin departed from the company in June of the current year after establishing Vertical Risk Management LLC, located in Summit, New Jersey. This company specialises in the restaurant industry. Ms. Arnold joined him at the company in October.
According to the complaint, prior to their departure from Gallagher, the defendants served as double agents for Vertical Risk, transmitting confidential business information from Gallagher to their personal email and phone accounts, and actively attempting to redirect business from Gallagher to Vertical Risk.
The lawsuit alleges that the defendants have violated the agreement and their fiduciary obligations, as well as assisted and encouraged the violation of fiduciary duties, and engaged in wrongful interference in contractual relationships. The party is pursuing compensation as well as both interim and permanent orders to prevent certain actions.
Mr. Gatlin declined to provide any statement regarding the complaint.
