PHILADELPHIA—Aon eSolutions Inc. has filed a lawsuit against risk management technology provider Riskonnect Inc. and three former Aon employees for alleged misappropriation of confidential information and unfair competition.

The lawsuit filed by Aon Corp.’s risk management technology unit alleges that before three former Aon employees resigned and accepted positions with competitor Riskonnect in May, they “copied and removed, without authorization, Aon computer files containing trade secrets and/or confidential business information for the apparent purpose of using information to solicit business for Riskonnect,” according to the Aug. 5 complaint.

‘David vs. Goliath’

Aon also alleges Riskonnect encouraged or condoned the unauthorized activity and will therefore benefit from unfair competition.

“We see it as the David vs. Goliath story. It’s a little surprising that this large competitor is trying to take us on,” said Kelly M. Barton, vp of marketing at Riskonnect, who also noted that the company has yet to see the complaint.

“We have still yet to be served. We have not seen the lawsuit. All we know is that there are some allegations of misappropriation of confidential information, and we know that three people and Riskonnect have been named,” she said.

Noncompete agreement

Ms. Barton noted that Riskonnect has confidentiality and noncompete agreements with its own employees and expects employees joining from other companies to honor their own agreements.

“Of course, we don’t know all the facts that they’re alleging yet, but from what we have seen and understand, we can’t imagine that there’s any basis for it and we will absolutely defend Riskonnect and these three employees for their right to work at a market-leading company,” Ms. Barton said.

Chicago-based Aon declined to comment.

Aon seeks injunctive relief and damages against the three employees and Riskonnect for wrongful activities, according to the lawsuit, which was filed in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia.