USI Insurance Services, one of the largest brokerages in the country, has filed su
it against a former sales team leader and another powerhouse broker, Lockton, ac
cusing them of poaching employees and harming client relationships.
Elisia Hahnenberg, w
ho began her career at USI as an intern and rose to lead a team of account execu
tives, breached non-compete agreements and brought three USI salespeople with her
when she jumped ship to Lockton last year, the federal lawsuit contends.
“Lockton and Ms. Hahnenberg have acted in concert to unlawfully and wro
ngfully poach the support personnel from the (sales) team in order to cripple USI’
s ability to provide services to its clients and to ultimately convince the cli
ents to switch their employee benefits broker to Lockton,” the April 11 complaint reads.
USI, with offices in Atlanta and New York, is asking for compensatory and pun
Watch More Image Part 2 >>>
itive damages, an injunction requiring that the defendants comply wit
h employment and non-interference agreements, as well as attorney fees.
Hahnenberg and Lockton have not yet filed an answer to the complaint, filed in federal court in Atlanta.
The suit was filed one week after another major insurance broker, Bro
wn & Brown, based in Florida, charged in a federal lawsuit that a former vice pre
sident had poached three dozen clients and created a competing insurance business.
Lockton, privately owned by the Lockton family, has offices in Atlanta and in Kansas City.
The complaint notes that Hahnenberg was hired as an intern in 2012 and l
ater became employee benefits team leader, based in Atlanta. She oversaw nine acc
ount executives and had access to USI trade secrets and proprietary systems, the su
it explains. Those systems include Omni, a platform that helps USI provide customized solutions for clients.
In May 2024, Hahnenberg submitted her resignation. Two days later, she attempted to download confidential USI files to a mobile device, the complaint alleges. A few weeks later, she sta
rted work for Lockton. USI reminded her of her employment agreement, which barred her for at least two years from inducing other USI employees to leave the company.
“USI is now in a vulnerable position with the potential for continued loss of Atlanta Account Executives and continued business harm and goodwill due to Defendants’ improper actions,” the suit reads.
