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Fishers-based mortgage lender Royal United Mortgage LLC has filed a lawsuit against two former employees and their new employer, with the company alleging the workers breached their contracts by failing to protect confidential information and soliciting other employees to join them at their new place of employment.
The lawsuit was filed Monday in Hamilton Superior Court.
Royal United Mortgage is suing defendants Christopher Abrams and Tiffany Harrell, two former Royal United employees, and insurance and mortgage company Mutual of Omaha, who Abrams and Harrell now work for.
Nancy Crawford, general counsel for Mutual of Omaha, did not immediately respond to The Indiana Lawyer’s request for comment.
Abrams and Harrell could not be immediately reached for comment.
The lawsuit alleges that as part of their employment with Royal United, Abrams and Harrell were granted the right to purchase certain units in the company if they agreed to be bound by laid out terms, which included protecting the company’s confidential information and giving the company at least five business days’ notice before performing work for a competitor.
In the agreement, the defendants were also bound to certain post-employment time periods in which they couldn’t work for a competing company in a similar role (a period of two years post-employment).
The defendants also couldn’t solicit Royal United’s customers or current employees to a competing company for a period of two years after leaving Royal United, the lawsuit stated.
According to the lawsuit, the defendants left their roles at Royal United this year and were subsequently hired by Mutual of Omaha, which has offices in Indianapolis.
Following their departure from Royal United, the lawsuit accuses Abrams and Harrell of the following actions:
- Failing to provide Royal United with the required written notice upon working for Mutual of Omaha
- Accepting roles at Mutual of Omaha that are similar to the ones they held at Royal United
- Directly or indirectly soliciting Royal United’s employees to work for Mutual of Omaha
- Disclosing Royal United’s confidential information to Mutual of Omaha
The lawsuit also accuses Mutual of Omaha of being aware of the restrictions in Abrams’s and Harrell’s agreements with Royal United and yet encouraging them to breach the agreements by soliciting and hiring Royal United employees.
Royal United is seeking a preliminary and permanent injunction, enjoining the defendants from interfering with the company’s contractual relationships.
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