AON Risk Services Companies, Inc. v. Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.

CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Illinois
DecidedNovember 25, 2019
Docket1:19-cv-07312
StatusUnknown

This text of AON Risk Services Companies, Inc. v. Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. (AON Risk Services Companies, Inc. v. Alliant Insurance Services, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Illinois primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
AON Risk Services Companies, Inc. v. Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., (N.D. Ill. 2019).

Opinion

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF ILLINOIS EASTERN DIVISION

AON RISK SERVICES COMPANIES, ) INC., AON PLC, AND AON GROUP, ) INC., ) ) Plaintiffs, ) Case No. 19 C 7312 v. ) ) Judge Jorge L. Alonso ALLIANT INSURANCE SERVICES, ) INC., TARA BRUSEK, JAMES JANIC, ) Magistrate Judge Jeffrey Cole THOMAS LUBAS, DANIELLE ROSS, ) JAMIE TAYLOR, JOSHUA VICK, AND ) MATTHEW WALSH, ) ) Defendants. )

MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER

Aon Risk Services Companies, Inc., Aon PLC, and Aon Group, Inc. (collectively “Aon”) move this Court to enter a temporary restraining order against the named Defendants, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 65(b). For the reasons stated below, the Court grants in part and denies in part Aon’s motion. I. Background

Aon filed suit against Alliant Insurance Services, Inc. (“Alliant”) and seven former Aon employees (“Defendant Employees”)1 who recently left Aon to work for Alliant. (See generally Compl., ECF No. 1.) The Defendant Employees worked for Aon’s Construction Services Group (“Aon CSG”), which is a division of Aon Group, Inc. Aon CSG sells insurance-related products

1 The seven Defendant Employees include: Tara Brusek, James Janic, Thomas Lubas, Danielle Ross, Jamie Taylor, Joshua Vick, and Matthew Walsh. Aon also alleges that five other Aon employees have left to join Alliant: Patrick Walsh, Theresa Lovell, Greg Melton, Dana Moriarity, and Kyle Goddard. Aon did not name these additional former employees as named Defendants but alleges generally that they were lured away from Aon by the named Defendants. in the construction industry. Aon describes Alliant as its direct competitor in offering insurance brokerage services, including in the construction industry. Aon alleges Alliant poached the Defendant Employees from Aon, and that prior to leaving for Alliant in late October 2019, the Defendant Employees took certain confidential, proprietary,

and trade secret information. Aon alleges the Defendant Employees are now poaching other Aon employees as well as Aon clients and are using Aon’s confidential, proprietary, and trade secret information to do so. Aon’s complaint alleges eight counts: (1) violation of the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act against all defendants; (2) violation of the Illinois Trade Secret Act against all defendants; (3) breach of contract against Defendants Walsh, Ross, Taylor, Brusek, Lubas, and Janic for their alleged breach of employment agreements; (4) breach of fiduciary duty against Defendants Walsh, Ross, and Taylor; (5) aiding and abetting breach of fiduciary duty against Defendants Walsh, Ross, Taylor, and Alliant; (6) tortious interference with contract against Alliant; (7) tortious interference with prospective economic advantage against Defendants Walsh, Ross, Taylor, and Alliant; and (8) declaratory judgment relating to all Defendant Employees’ Aon

employment agreements. (See generally ECF No. 1.) Aon has moved this Court to issue a temporary restraining order (“TRO”). (See generally Mot. for Temp. Restraining Order and Memo in Support, ECF Nos. 9 and 10.) Aon highlights specific bad acts by Defendants (described below) that Aon claims show the type of irreparable harm Aon has suffered and will continue to suffer absent entry of a TRO. Aon’s proposed TRO enjoins Defendants as follows: 1. The Defendant Employees—and by extension, Alliant—are enjoined from violating their respective employment agreements, which includes:

1) prohibiting Defendants from “directly or indirectly, calling upon, soliciting, accepting, engaging in, servicing or performing any business of the same type performed by Aon with respect to clients” that the Defendant Employees had any relationship with during the last twenty-four (24) months prior to their resignation;

2) prohibiting Defendants from “soliciting, inducing, or causing” any Aon employee to leave Aon;

3) prohibiting Defendants from “utilizing, divulging, disclosing or misusing” any Aon “confidential information,” as defined by the Defendant Employees’ Aon employment agreements; and

4) requiring Defendants to immediately return all Aon confidential and trade secret information.

2. Defendants are required to preserve any and all information (documents, electronically- stored information, etc.) relevant to the factual allegations and claims in Aon’s complaint.

3. Defendant Jamie Taylor is required to turn over her passcode to her Aon-issued iPhone.

4. Defendant Alliant is enjoined from soliciting or hiring any additional Aon CSG employees.

(See ECF No. 9 at 6-7.) Aon requests the TRO stay in place through the preliminary injunction hearing. Aon filed its complaint on November 5, 2019, and filed its TRO motion on November 18, 2019. Alliant filed a response opposing the TRO on November 20, 2019, (Resp., ECF No. 18.), and Aon filed a memorandum in further support on November 21, 2019 (Reply Memo., ECF No. 25.) The Court heard argument on the motion on November 21, 2019. (ECF No. 26.) The Court held another hearing on November 25, 2018, at which Alliant told the Court that all Defendants were willing to be enjoined from soliciting, inducing, or causing any Aon employee to leave Aon and that the Defendant Employees were willing to abide by the non-disclosure covenants in their employment agreements. 2

2 “Employment agreements” refers to the Restricted Stock Unit agreements which contain the three restrictive covenants at issue as well as other employment agreements that repeat these covenants (i.e., Walsh’s LPP Agreement and other Defendant Employee’s Non-Solicitation Agreements). (See ECF No. 1 at ¶¶ 77-105.) II. Analysis

To obtain a TRO, a movant must demonstrate: (1) a likelihood of success on the merits; (2) that it has no adequate remedy at law; and (3) that it will suffer irreparable harm if the relief is not granted. Promatek Indus., Ltd. v. Equitrac Corp., 300 F.3d 808, 811 (7th Cir. 2002). If the movant makes such a showing, the Court then must consider the balance between the irreparable harm that the moving party will suffer if relief is denied and the harm that the nonmoving party will suffer if relief is improperly granted. Ty, Inc. v. Jones Grp., Inc., 237 F.3d 891, 895 (7th Cir. 2001). Finally, the Court must consider the interests of non-parties in granting or denying the requested relief. Id. The more likely a plaintiff’s success on the merits, the less the balance of harms needs to favor its side to justify relief, while a greater showing that the balance of harms favors the plaintiff may offset a lower probability of success on the success. Abbot Labs. v. Mead Johnson & Co., 971 F.2d 6, 12 (7th Cir. 1992). 1. Likelihood of Success A movant “need not demonstrate a likelihood of absolute success on the merits. Instead,

he must only show that his chances to succeed on his claims are ‘better than negligible.’” Whitaker By Whitaker v. Kenosha Unified Sch. Dist. No. 1 Bd. of Educ., 858 F.3d 1034, 1046 (7th Cir. 2017) (quoting Cooper v. Salazar, 196 F.3d 809, 813 (7th Cir. 1999)). “As the Seventh Circuit has explained, this is a relatively low bar.” Vendavo, Inc. v. Long, 397 F. Supp. 3d 1115, 1129 (N.D. Ill. 2019).

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AON Risk Services Companies, Inc. v. Alliant Insurance Services, Inc., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/aon-risk-services-companies-inc-v-alliant-insurance-services-inc-ilnd-2019.