Argo Group recordsdata lawsuit towards rival over alleged worker theft scheme

Specialty insurer Argo Group Worldwide Holdings has filed a lawsuit towards a rival firm and two former executives, accusing them of orchestrating a scheme to poach workers from its surety enterprise unit.

The lawsuit, filed in state District Court docket in San Antonio, Texas, alleges that the defendants conspired to acceptable the Argo Surety enterprise unit to ascertain a competing enterprise at DUAL North America.

The defendants “conspired within the shadows” to solicit workers and procure confidential data, Argo stated in its criticism.

The Bermuda-based insurer is looking for an injunction to stop the defendants from interfering with the contractual obligations of the departed workers or using the confidential data they reportedly possess. Additionally it is pursuing unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

The important thing figures named within the lawsuit are Mark Farina and Brendan Keating, who collectively led Argo’s surety unit from November 2021. Farina served because the unit’s international chief underwriting officer, whereas Keating held the place of chief working officer. Each had been among the many 24 workers who resigned to affix DUAL.

Based on the lawsuit, Farina and Keating violated their contracts by actively soliciting Argo workers to affix DUAL, in addition to misappropriating “extremely confidential data” that included lists of Argo’s largest brokers, account data, and detailed buyer knowledge.

Argo additionally alleges that DUAL and the 2 executives collaborated with London-based recruiting agency Hanover Search Group to strategy practically each underwriting worker of Argo Surety.

Moreover, two different former Argo Surety workers had been named as defendants. M. Neal Lee, vp of strategic operations, and Stephen Parnas, vp and nationwide underwriting officer for contract surety, had been accused of taking part in a civil conspiracy and breaching their contracts by disclosing Argo’s confidential data.

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