Gallagher and Alliant tangle over poaching allegations
A lawsuit alleges Alliant conspired with Gallagher's former employees to steal confidential information and trade secrets.
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against Alliant Insurance Services Inc. and other defendants, alleging that they conspired with former employees to steal confidential information and trade secrets.
The suit charges that Alliant and the other defendants infiltrated Gallagher and coordinated a mass resignation of more than ten employees who left Gallagher over a five-day period, and immediately began to work for Alliant. The mass resignation allegedly led to the departure of almost 50 Gallagher customers as of August 19.
The complaint alleges that the attack on Gallagher was planned over several months and involved stealing essential customer data, solicitation of Gallagher clients, and efforts to sabotage Gallagher’s attempts to keep its customers. The complaint also alleged that Don Tarantino and another defendant had sold their insurance agencies to Gallagher years ago and were both subject to post-termination restrictions on solicitation of Gallagher customers and employees.
Gallagher states that Alliant’s conduct “is consistent with its national strategy of stealing business unlawfully from competitors, which often results in the imposition of injunctions and other negative rulings against it.”
The case is Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. v. Don Tarantino et al.
Editor’s Note: It is not uncommon in the insurance industry for employees to leave one firm for another, and it is also not unusual for lawsuits to be filed as a result of that movement. However, this is not the first time Alliant has been accused of poaching employees from a competitor. In 2017, Alliant faced a lawsuit claiming it poached brokers from Wells Fargo. Then in 2019, Lockton filed a suit against Alliant to prevent the company from servicing clients it gained after “raiding” Lockton’s staff.
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