Marsh, the global insurance brokerage, has filed a new lawsuit against seven former employees who are now at Howden US, accusing them of breaching various employee contracts and engaging in a “concealed scheme” to steal trade secrets, confidential information, and clients.
The lawsuit, filed on 3 November 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, targets the former employees—Alfred Gronovius, Andrea Amodeo, Carlos Serio, Giovanni Perez, Janette Wilcox, Nathan Collins, and Richard Lennerth. According to Marsh, the defendants worked together to enable Howden US to quickly enter the U.S. market, using knowledge, clients, and resources obtained during their tenure at Marsh.
In the suit, Marsh states: “Acting together, the defendants enabled Howden to enter the U.S. market overnight with a fully staffed workforce and a book of business built on decades of Marsh’s investment and work.”
Howden US, the U.S. retail brokerage arm of Howden, began its operations several months ago. This lawsuit is part of a broader legal battle in which Marsh has already sued current Howden US CEO Michael Parrish and other senior Howden employees, including Giselle Lugones, Robert Lynn, and Julie Layton. Marsh alleges these senior leaders orchestrated an unlawful scheme to poach employees from Marsh’s Florida zone, an effort that began after Howden’s failed attempt to acquire Risk Strategies.
The latest suit alleges that the seven former employees were also key figures within Marsh’s Florida operations. Marsh claims their involvement was uncovered during an ongoing investigation. These employees allegedly participated in “turncoat conduct” before they left Marsh, working to benefit Howden at Marsh’s expense. The group allegedly solicited Marsh employees to join Howden, while also transferring confidential data, including trade secrets, either electronically or through physical means.
Marsh further claims that several of the defendants deleted a significant amount of Marsh’s documents as they left the company. This act, according to Marsh, was an attempt to conceal their disloyalty, deprive Marsh of its property, and sabotage its ability to compete fairly in the marketplace. The broker also alleges that the former employees actively solicited clients, with one individual continuing to service a client they had previously managed while at Marsh, which Marsh argues violates their employee contracts.
Both Howden US and Marsh declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In a separate legal matter involving Michael Parrish, a court ruling in September granted Marsh a preliminary injunction. Under this ruling, Parrish, along with Lugones, Lynn, and Layton, are prohibited from soliciting employees to leave Marsh, soliciting clients or prospective clients, or using Marsh’s confidential information and trade secrets.