Insurance broker Willis Towers Watson has sued rival Lockton Companies and 18 former employees over what WTW describes as a coordinated raid on its Northeast construction insurance business.
According to a complaint filed in Superior Court in Boston, 18 members of WTW’s Northeast construction team resigned on August 19 within a 44-minute period.
The departures began at 8:02 am and ended at 8:46 am, WTW said. The group included senior members of the construction practice.
WTW alleges the employees moved quickly after leaving. Within 48 hours, according to the complaint, 13 WTW clients representing more than $5 mn in annual revenue had moved to Lockton. WTW also claims the former employees took confidential business information with them.
The broker characterized the departures as a “smash and grab” operation organized with Lockton.
WTW alleges the former employees breached non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements. It also accuses Lockton of helping them carry out the alleged violations.
The company argues its restrictive covenants are reasonable and widely used across insurance brokerage. WTW also said Lockton requires employees to sign similar non-solicitation agreements.
WTW asked for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction preventing further Lockton contact with affected clients. It also wants the court to enforce the former employees’ contractual obligations.
WTW is asking the court to invalidate policies placed through the former employees after they joined Lockton. The broker also seeks disgorgement of revenue and client relationships Lockton allegedly obtained from former WTW accounts, along with monetary damages.
“Lockton should be required to disgorge the client relationships that it wrongfully obtained from WTW,” the company told the court.
WTW argued Lockton previously sought similar relief after facing what it described as a comparable employee raid by another competitor.
Under WTW’s requested remedy, clients moved to Lockton through the disputed departures would have to return to WTW or select another competing broker.
“Lockton should not be allowed to profit from its unlawful conduct,” WTW said in the filing.
Michael Scott and Thomas Grandmaison are the former WTW senior leaders named in the complaint.
Most of the 18 employees worked from WTW’s Boston office. Several others supported the Boston construction team from Pennsylvania, while one worked from Alabama.
The dispute places client ownership, restrictive employment agreements and confidential brokerage information at the center of another high-value talent battle in commercial insurance.
For large brokers, construction accounts often involve long-standing relationships and substantial recurring commission revenue. Moving an established team at once therefore creates immediate commercial risk, especially when clients follow producers to a competing firm.
WTW’s complaint now asks the Massachusetts court to decide whether the former employees’ departures and subsequent client moves violated their contractual obligations, and whether Lockton bears liability for helping secure those accounts.
