Where an insurance broker alleged its former employee diverted business to its competitors and solicited existing clients to move their business to competitors, it plausibly alleged a claim for breach of fiduciary duty.
Background
In January 2021, USI Insurance Services LLC terminated the employment of Dwight Drew Ellis II for unspecified misconduct. After Ellis’s termination, USI discovered that Ellis had diverted business from USI to its competitors and solicited existing USI clients to move their business to USI’s competitors.
In its amended complaint, USI sues Ellis for breach of his employment contract for soliciting clients and active prospective clients (Counts One and Two); breach of his employment contract’s implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing (Count Three); breach of the duty of loyalty (Count Four); unjust enrichment (Count Five); tortious interference with contractual relations (Count Six) and statutory business conspiracy (Counts Seven and Eight. Ellis moves to dismiss Counts Three through Eight.
Count Three
With respect to Count Three, Ellis argues that a breach of the covenant of good faith and fair dealing does not create an independent cause of action. He says that, at best, Count Three duplicates the breach of contract claims in Counts One and Two.
Although USI makes identical allegations in Counts One and Two, it asserts a separate theory of how Ellis breached the employment agreement in Count Three. Accordingly, USI states a claim upon which...
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