Judge Orders Aon, Marsh to Negotiate Suit Alleging Client, Trade Secrets Theft

A U.S. District Court judge has ordered Aon Risk Services Northeast Inc. and Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. to negotiate before moving on with a lawsuit filed by Aon that alleges Marsh and several former employees stole trade secrets and clients.

In a handwritten note at the end of a court filing, Judge Richard Berman in U.S. District Court in Manhattan said, "The parties are directed to engage in good faith settlement negotiations forthwith."

The New York-based unit of Aon Corp. names Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc., Marsh U.S.A., and three former Aon employees -- Michael Kornblau, Tyler Wendleken and Karryn Angoff. The court document, dated March 17, directed the defendants to appear in court March 19 to state why the judge should not preliminarily restrain them "from accepting any trade credit business from any Aon account" the former employees serviced while with the company.

Aon claims the group illegally downloaded and disclosed trade secrets, and solicited Aon's business before Kornblau, Wendleken and Angoff quit in early February, according to the complaint. Each were employees of Aon's Trade Credit Group and each are now employed at Marsh, Aon said. The Trade Credit Group designs, arranges and negotiates credit insurance and finance packages, often along with political risk insurance, say court documents (BestWire, March 17, 2010).

Marsh & McLennan has said it believes the suit has no merit.

Kornblau was the Trade Credit Group's managing director for the East Coast for Aon and is accused of spearheading the alleged theft of clients and trade secrets with Marsh, said Aon. At some point prior to his Feb. 5 resignation from Aon, "Kornblau began conspiring with high level Marsh executives for the purpose of unlawfully soliciting Aon clients and employees to move to Marsh...by misusing Aon confidential and proprietary trade secret information," the suit states.

Those named by Aon were to state why the judge should not order the return of Aon's proprietary or trade secret information or an examination of personal and business computers of the former Aon employees.

The redacted filing omits the amount of annual revenue that Aon alleges has already gone to Marsh since Kornblau, Wendleken and Angoff left Aon, which seeks punitive damages, attorneys' fees and injunctive relief. Also redacted are the clients Marsh alleged stole from Aon.

(By Chad Hemenway, associate editor, BestWeek: [email protected])