Gallagher sues two former employees, calls them ‘double agents’
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Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. sued two former employees on Thursday, contending they worked as “double agents” for another brokerage one of them set up.
Gallagher acquired most of the assets of Parsippany, New Jersey-based RPA Insurance Services LLP in May 2019, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in New Jersey. The case is Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. v. Douglas Gatlin, Gundi Arnold a/k/a/ Gundi Abell a/k/a Gundi Hofman-Abell and Vertical Risk Management LLC.
Ms. Arnold was an RPA producer at that time while Mr. Gatlin was an independent insurance consultant who did some work for RPA while also operating his own independent agency, according to the complaint.
Ms. Arnold joined Gallagher immediately following the acquisition’s closing, and Mr. Gatlin joined a few months later, the complaint said. Both joined as producers and signed restrictive covenants.
Mr. Gatlin left the company in June of this year after setting up Summit, New Jersey-based Vertical Risk Management LLC, which specializes in restaurant business, and Ms. Arnold followed him to the company in October.
The complaint says that for several months before they left Gallagher, the defendants “worked as double agents for Vertical Risk, sent Gallagher confidential business information to personal email and phone accounts, and worked to solicit and/or otherwise divert business away from Gallagher and toward Vertical Risk.”
The complaint charges the defendants with breach of agreement and fiduciary duties, aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duties, and tortious interference in contractual relationships. It seeks damages as well as temporary and permanent injunctions.
Mr. Gatlin had no comment on the lawsuit.
