Brown & Brown Files Suit Over Alleged Howden Poaching of 200+ Employees
Reports that Howden US, part of the London-based insurance brokerage, had lured away more than 200 employees from Brown & Brown Insurance have left industry leaders worried that poaching seems to be the new business model for some companies. And Florida-headquartered Brown & Brown wasted little time in filing a lawsuit against Howden, accusing the firm of multiple 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,” reads the complaint, filed this week in Superior Court in Massachusetts.
It’s the fourth lawsuit against Howden companies this year, all accusing Howden of illegally hiring hundreds of employees from big-name rival insurance firms, including Aon, Marsh, and Willis Towers Watson.
“It’s not just Howden that’s doing it. It’s just the way things are now,” said one longtime Florida insurance broker who asked not to be named.
Others said the alleged poaching moves reflect a growing “retail war” as insurers and brokerages maneuver for shares of a market that has been rejuvenated in part by tort reforms and a drop in claims litigation costs in Florida, Georgia and other states.
And it’s not just property insurance. Some major auto insurers are now offering $200 bonuses to agents for every new policyholder, one executive said.
“Everyone can’t afford to do that,” said Don Moser, president of AmWins Specialty Auto Insurance of Florida. “It’s a real war that’s going on now.”
The news broke early this week that Howden US had hired 100, then 200—and possibly more—people from Brown & Brown, an 86-year-old firm that has grown to one of the largest U.S. brokerages, with 700 offices and 23,000 team members around the country. Insiders said Brown & Brown called an emergency company-wide meeting last week, warning remaining associates to refrain from jumping ship.
Brown & Brown and Howden representatives could not be reached for comment. But poaching experts said Howden, which set up its U.S. affiliate just a few months ago, seems to have adopted raiding other firms as a business model.
“It seems to be a pattern with Howden. I can’t recall another insurance company coming to the U.S. and not being subtle at all about raiding other companies,” said Lynn Thomas, of Thomas Consulting, who specializes in client retention strategies for corporations.
She suggested that insurance brokerages, agencies and carriers should double-check their employees’ non-compete agreements and their compensation packages. Howden reportedly offered large bonuses and salaries for top-performing employees who made the switch.
“What was Howden offering? Maybe it’s too good to be true,” Thomas said.
“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 said.
A more harmful practice is seen when owners of competing companies or franchisees agree not to hire each other’s workers, limiting employees’ mobility and advancement, he noted.
The Brown & Brown lawsuit complaint, seen here, names Howden along with 32 former Brown employees as defendants. The suit charges that the workers sought to “dismantle the Plaintiffs from the inside out with the assistance of their new employer, Howden US Services,” by orchestrating “a secret, simultaneous, no-advance notice, mass employee raid of approximately 200 employees from offices across the country and immediately embarked on a campaign to steal Plaintiffs’ customers, using the weekend, Hannukah, and Christmas holiday to inflict maximum competitive harm and to make it as difficult as possible for Plaintiffs to obtain judicial relief before the Defendants complete their sabotage.”
The complaint alleges that Brown’s profit center leaders in Massachusetts and the Northeast regional leader coordinated the raid. It also includes what appear to be text messages, telling the raided employees that they will be getting messages from Howden’s human resources department, and reminding them to tender their resignations to Brown by Dec. 19.
The suit asks for 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