Brown & Brown Sues Howden for Allegedly Poaching Over 200 Employees

Recent reports indicate that Howden US, a subsidiary of the London-based insurance brokerage, has successfully recruited over 200 employees from Brown & Brown Insurance. This mass exodus has raised concerns among industry leaders, who fear that employee poaching is becoming a prevalent business strategy for some firms. In response, Florida-based Brown & Brown has promptly filed a lawsuit against Howden, alleging numerous statutory violations.

“This case is about one of the most enormous, calculated and predatory schemes of trade secret theft, contractual breaches, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, and unfair competition the brokerage industry has ever seen,” states the complaint filed this week in Massachusetts Superior Court.

This lawsuit marks the fourth legal action against Howden companies this year, all of which accuse Howden of unlawfully hiring hundreds of employees from prominent competitors, including Aon, Marsh, and Willis Towers Watson.

“It’s not just Howden that’s doing it. It’s just the way things are now,” remarked a veteran Florida insurance broker who preferred to remain anonymous.

Industry insiders suggest that these alleged poaching tactics reflect a growing “retail war” as insurers and brokerages vie for market share, particularly in regions like Florida and Georgia, where tort reforms and reduced litigation costs have revitalized the market.

Moreover, the competition extends beyond property insurance. Some major auto insurers are reportedly offering $200 bonuses to agents for each new policyholder, according to one executive.

“Not everyone can afford to do that,” commented Don Moser, president of AmWins Specialty Auto Insurance of Florida. “It’s a real war that’s going on now.”

News surfaced earlier this week that Howden US had initially hired 100, then 200, and possibly more employees from Brown & Brown, a firm with an impressive 86-year history and a workforce of 23,000 across 700 offices nationwide. Insiders revealed that Brown & Brown convened an emergency meeting last week, urging remaining employees to avoid leaving the company.

While representatives from both Brown & Brown and Howden were unavailable for comment, experts in poaching suggest that Howden, which established its U.S. affiliate just months ago, appears to have adopted aggressive recruitment as a core business strategy.

“It seems to be a pattern with Howden. I can’t recall another insurance company coming to the U.S. and being so overt about raiding other firms,” noted Lynn Thomas of Thomas Consulting, who specializes in client retention strategies.

She advised insurance brokerages, agencies, and carriers to review their employees’ non-compete agreements and compensation packages, as Howden is rumored to be offering substantial bonuses and salaries to attract top talent.

“What was Howden offering? Maybe it’s too good to be true,” Thomas added.

From a free-market perspective, while poaching may infuriate affected companies, it often benefits employees, according to Randy Stutz, president of the American Antitrust Institute.

“It might not be good for the industry or the company, but it’s healthy competition, and that’s how the market is supposed to work,” Stutz explained.

He highlighted that a more detrimental practice occurs when competing companies or franchisees agree not to hire each other’s employees, thereby restricting workers’ mobility and career advancement.

The Brown & Brown lawsuit, view the complaint here, names Howden and 32 former Brown employees as defendants. The suit alleges that these workers conspired to “dismantle the Plaintiffs from the inside out with the assistance of their new employer, Howden US Services,” executing a “secret, simultaneous, no-advance notice, mass employee raid” of approximately 200 employees from various offices nationwide. The complaint claims that this was orchestrated to inflict maximum competitive harm during the holiday season, complicating the Plaintiffs’ ability to seek judicial relief.

Additionally, the suit alleges that leaders from Brown’s profit centers in Massachusetts and the Northeast coordinated the raid, including text messages instructing raided employees to expect communications from Howden’s HR department and reminding them to resign from Brown by December 19.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Howden, monetary damages, including punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.

Related: Aon Adds to List of Brokers Suing Howden US for Alleged Poaching, Theft

Topics
Lawsuits

Recent reports indicate that Howden US, a subsidiary of the London-based insurance brokerage, has successfully recruited over 200 employees from Brown & Brown Insurance. This mass exodus has raised concerns among industry leaders, who fear that employee poaching is becoming a prevalent business strategy for some firms. In response, Florida-based Brown & Brown has promptly filed a lawsuit against Howden, alleging numerous statutory violations.

“This case is about one of the most enormous, calculated and predatory schemes of trade secret theft, contractual breaches, breach of fiduciary duty, tortious interference, and unfair competition the brokerage industry has ever seen,” states the complaint filed this week in Massachusetts Superior Court.

This lawsuit marks the fourth legal action against Howden companies this year, all of which accuse Howden of unlawfully hiring hundreds of employees from prominent competitors, including Aon, Marsh, and Willis Towers Watson.

“It’s not just Howden that’s doing it. It’s just the way things are now,” remarked a veteran Florida insurance broker who preferred to remain anonymous.

Industry insiders suggest that these alleged poaching tactics reflect a growing “retail war” as insurers and brokerages vie for market share, particularly in regions like Florida and Georgia, where tort reforms and reduced litigation costs have revitalized the market.

Moreover, the competition extends beyond property insurance. Some major auto insurers are reportedly offering $200 bonuses to agents for each new policyholder, according to one executive.

“Not everyone can afford to do that,” commented Don Moser, president of AmWins Specialty Auto Insurance of Florida. “It’s a real war that’s going on now.”

News surfaced earlier this week that Howden US had initially hired 100, then 200, and possibly more employees from Brown & Brown, a firm with an impressive 86-year history and a workforce of 23,000 across 700 offices nationwide. Insiders revealed that Brown & Brown convened an emergency meeting last week, urging remaining employees to avoid leaving the company.

While representatives from both Brown & Brown and Howden were unavailable for comment, experts in poaching suggest that Howden, which established its U.S. affiliate just months ago, appears to have adopted aggressive recruitment as a core business strategy.

“It seems to be a pattern with Howden. I can’t recall another insurance company coming to the U.S. and being so overt about raiding other firms,” noted Lynn Thomas of Thomas Consulting, who specializes in client retention strategies.

She advised insurance brokerages, agencies, and carriers to review their employees’ non-compete agreements and compensation packages, as Howden is rumored to be offering substantial bonuses and salaries to attract top talent.

“What was Howden offering? Maybe it’s too good to be true,” Thomas added.

From a free-market perspective, while poaching may infuriate affected companies, it often benefits employees, according to Randy Stutz, president of the American Antitrust Institute.

“It might not be good for the industry or the company, but it’s healthy competition, and that’s how the market is supposed to work,” Stutz explained.

He highlighted that a more detrimental practice occurs when competing companies or franchisees agree not to hire each other’s employees, thereby restricting workers’ mobility and career advancement.

The Brown & Brown lawsuit, view the complaint here, names Howden and 32 former Brown employees as defendants. The suit alleges that these workers conspired to “dismantle the Plaintiffs from the inside out with the assistance of their new employer, Howden US Services,” executing a “secret, simultaneous, no-advance notice, mass employee raid” of approximately 200 employees from various offices nationwide. The complaint claims that this was orchestrated to inflict maximum competitive harm during the holiday season, complicating the Plaintiffs’ ability to seek judicial relief.

Additionally, the suit alleges that leaders from Brown’s profit centers in Massachusetts and the Northeast coordinated the raid, including text messages instructing raided employees to expect communications from Howden’s HR department and reminding them to resign from Brown by December 19.

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against Howden, monetary damages, including punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.

Related: Aon Adds to List of Brokers Suing Howden US for Alleged Poaching, Theft

Topics
Lawsuits