Howden US told a Massachusetts judge that the recent wave of departures from rival Brown & Brown had nothing to do with theft or conspiracy. According to Howden, the exits were driven entirely by Brown’s own treatment of its people.
The response came after Brown & Brown sued Howden US and dozens of former employees in Massachusetts Superior Court, alleging trade-secret theft, contract breaches, and unfair competition.
The Florida-based broker asked the court for a temporary restraining order, seeking to halt what it describes as a coordinated raid.
In its Dec. 26 filing, submitted on behalf of Howden US and 28 individual defendants, the company rejected the narrative outright. The story, it said, isn’t a “shocking pirate raid.”
It’s about employees pushed so far by poor management and below-market compensation that they were prepared to resign without new jobs lined up.
Howden says it simply offered them work and explicitly instructed them not to take confidential information.
Client movement, Howden argued, was inevitable. In broking, clients follow brokers. That’s how the market functions.
The filing says there was no master plan to steal Brown’s business and suggests the firm’s energy would be better spent fixing governance failures and what Howden called a problematic corporate culture.
Howden also says Brown & Brown failed to meet the legal bar for emergency relief. The requested injunction, it argues, would directly impair defendants’ ability to earn a living.
It adds that Brown’s complaint lacks substantive allegations against many of the individuals named. A TRO, Howden says, simply isn’t justified.
The 72-page filing paints a harsh picture of Brown & Brown’s internal environment, alleging declining culture, weak pay, manipulative financial reporting, and discriminatory practices.
The dispute sits within a broader context. Howden US launched its U.S. retail broking operation in August, naming Mike Parrish as chief executive. Since then, it has faced lawsuits from competitors including Aon, Marsh, and Willis Towers Watson, all accusing Howden of unlawful hiring practices.
Leadership history complicates the Brown case further. In August, Howden appointed Jim Hays as vice chairman of Howden Group Holdings. Hays founded Hays Company in 1994, sold it to Brown & Brown in 2018, and later served as vice chair and board member at Brown.
Hays Company now appears as a plaintiff in the lawsuit against Howden US, though Hays himself is not named as a defendant. He did submit a declaration responding to Brown’s allegations.
Brown & Brown claims Hays played a central role in planning and executing what it calls an illegal employee raid and is now trying to reclaim business he previously sold. Hays denies that.
He says he remains a significant Brown shareholder and continues to buy more stock. Intentionally harming the firm, he argues, would run directly against his financial interests.
Hays also disclosed that he resigned from Brown in March 2024, after his employment was terminated in January following a meeting with CEO Powell Brown, who told him he no longer wanted Hays involved in the business.
Reports that Howden US has hired more than 200 Brown & Brown employees have unsettled the industry. Brown moved quickly, filing suit and accusing Howden of multiple statutory violations.
Its complaint calls the episode one of the most calculated and predatory schemes the brokerage industry has ever seen, alleging coordinated resignations timed over a holiday weekend to limit Brown’s access to the courts.
This marks the fourth lawsuit filed this year accusing Howden entities of illegally recruiting hundreds of employees from major rivals. Some industry veterans say the behavior reflects a broader shift.
“It’s not just Howden,” said one longtime Florida broker who asked not to be named. “It’s just the way things are now.”
Others describe a growing retail war, fueled by tort reforms and lower litigation costs in states like Florida and Georgia. Competition has intensified well beyond property lines. Some auto insurers, one executive said, are now paying $200 bonuses per new policyholder signed by agents.
Brown & Brown, founded 86 years ago, operates about 700 offices with roughly 23,000 employees nationwide. After the departures, insiders say the firm held an emergency all-hands meeting, warning remaining staff against leaving.
Outside observers remain divided. Lynn Thomas of Thomas Consulting says Howden’s approach appears unusually aggressive.
She advises brokerages to recheck non-compete clauses and compensation structures, noting reports that Howden offered large bonuses and salaries to top performers.
From an antitrust perspective, American Antitrust Institute president Randy Stutz takes a different view. Worker mobility, he says, is usually healthy for the market, even if it angers employers. More troubling are agreements that restrict hiring altogether.
The Brown & Brown complaint names Howden and 32 former employees, accusing them of orchestrating a coordinated, no-notice mass resignation across the country.
It includes what appear to be text messages directing employees to watch for outreach from Howden’s HR team and to submit resignations by Dec. 19. Whether that amounts to unlawful conduct or simply aggressive competition now sits with the court.
