Michael C. Brown, a financial adviser with $5.9bn in client assets, Charles Britton, Marcus Wilson, and Amanda Kerley were temporarily blocked by a New York state court from “using or disclosing in any manner the customer lists and any other property or trade secret information taken at the time” of their resignations from U.S. Trust, according to a Bloomberg report, citing court documents provided by Bank of America.
The employees argued in court that they were allowed to take client records under a voluntary recruiting agreement among brokers. Bank of America disputed that, saying that neither it nor U.S. Trust signed the agreement that the former employees argue allows them to use the client information, according to the complaint.
The court order directs the former employees to return customer lists and any other property to U.S. Trust. It also blocks them from “soliciting, inviting, encouraging, requesting” customer accounts that may have been “wrongfully solicited”, according to the filing.
The suit is “a blatant legal tactic in an attempt to portray Mr. Brown and his team in a negative light”, Steven Goldberg, a Dynasty Financial spokesman, said in a statement.
“Companies need to be one step ahead of a departing employee", said Kurt Johnson, vice president of strategy and corporate development for Courion, a provider of identity and access management products, when commenting on the case.
"In letting these staff members go, all administrative controls should have been shut off and changed immediately so that there was no opportunity to gain access to these sensitive files. Leaving even a short time gap between notice of termination and closing accounts creates vulnerabilities.”