Brown & Brown Expenses Former VP With Poaching Purchasers, Breaching Agreements

Florida-headquartered Brown & Brown, one of many largest insurance coverage brokerages within the nation, this week filed a federal lawsuit towards a former vp, charging him with secretly organising a competing enterprise and poaching purchasers.

The lawsuit within the federal court docket system’s Center District of Florida contends Westyn Swenson, based mostly in Texas, conspired with Nathan Gilbert Insurance coverage Company and Legacy Insurance coverage Group to lure no less than three dozen purchasers from Brown & Brown. It was all in violation of Swenson’s non-compete employment agreements, the criticism alleges.

The defendants haven’t but filed a solution to Brown & Brown’s criticism. It’s the newest poaching lawsuit in an business that has seen an increase in these forms of authorized actions in recent times. On the identical time, no-poach worker agreements have been efficiently challenged in court docket in some states. In 2023, the New York Legal professional Basic’s workplace compelled property-casualty and title insurance coverage firms to pay $13.75 million in fines for his or her “anti-worker” non-poaching agreements.

Within the Brown & Brown case, the difficulty started in 2021, when Swenson labored at Hillco West Texas insurance coverage company, the place he agreed to not solicit Hillco’s purchasers ought to he go away the agency, the swimsuit contends. Secretly, although, Swenson had fashioned Swenson Capital, which Brown & Brown mentioned “was based for the aim of competing with Hillco whereas nonetheless employed thereby.”

The publicly traded Brown & Brown, based mostly in Dayton Seaside and with places of work across the nation, acquired Hillco in 2024. Swenson went to work for B&B as vp for gross sales, and he signed a brand new employment settlement.

A couple of months later, Swenson left B&B and commenced working with Legacy Insurance coverage Group, which has places of work in Florida and Texas. Nathan Gilbert runs his personal company in Iowa Falls, Texas, which is a department of Legacy Insurance coverage, in response to the company’s web site.

“Since starting work with the Legacy Defendants beneath the guise of the Swenson Defendants … Swenson has solicited and accepted work involving a minimum of thirty-seven buyer insurance coverage insurance policies he had beforehand serviced on behalf of Brown & Brown, utilizing misappropriated confidential data, to learn the Legacy Defendants,” the criticism reads.

The swimsuit argues that the defendants used Swenson Capital “as a smokescreen for his or her enterprise relationship.” The criticism features a Google Maps Road View picture of the purported handle of Swenson Capital, which seems to be a vacant lot in Nocona, Texas.

The alleged poaching and tortious interference have price Brown & Brown important quantities of cash and have divulged commerce secrets and techniques, the swimsuit alleges. The swimsuit asks for no less than $50,000 in damages and a court docket order requiring Swenson to conform along with his employment agreements.

Swenson couldn’t be reached for remark Friday morning.