AssuredPartners Inc. has filed a poaching suit against a Reno, Nevada, competitor over the departure over the past week of five employees.

The Lake Mary, Florida-based broker is also seeking a temporary restraining order against L/P Insurance Services LLP and the five employees.

AssuredPartners contends in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Reno on Tuesday that the resignations, which began last Friday, followed unhappiness over changes in its producers’ accountability and sales goals that could have led to a reduction in commission rates next year, according to the lawsuit, AssuredPartners of Nevada, LLC vs. L/P Insurance Services, LLC, Deanna DeHart; Courtney Pino; Christopher “Bryce” Warner; Gig Bradley; and Heather Piatt.

“At its core, this is an employee raiding and client poaching case where five employees of Assured coordinated their sudden defection to another insurance agency, L/P Insurance Services LLC, stealing a treasure trove of confidential and trade secret information and poaching clients both before and after resigning from Assured,” the lawsuit says.

“The employees immediately set out to solicit Assured’s clients for the benefit of their new employer, which knew or should have known that each of these employees owed fiduciary and contractual obligations to Assured as each of them had signed confidentiality and non-solicitation agreements as a condition of employment with Assured,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit said the three producers and two account executives who resigned “managed and influenced” about $2.5 million out of Assured’s $3.2 million operation out of its Reno office. 

The lawsuit charges the former employees with breach of contract and breach of fiduciary liability. L/P is charged with tortious interference with contractual relations and aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty. All the defendants are charged with misappropriation of trade secrets and unjust enrichment.

AssuredPartners seeks a temporary restraining order, preliminary injunction and expedited discovery in a separate filing with the court.

Attorneys for L/P and the employees did not respond to a request for comment.