BMO Nesbitt Burns Inc. has filed a lawsuit in the Supreme Court of British Columbia over the defection of its entire branch in the B.C. town of Cranbrook. The firm claims that a group of employees departed the branch and immediately began working for a competitor, Wellington-Altus Private Wealth Inc. The group used BMO's confidential information to solicit clients, attempting to have them switch firms. The allegations are contained in a notice of claim that BMO filed at the Vancouver courthouse on April 1, 2021. The defendants are Gregory Sternig, Robert Klewchuk, Caroline Ferguson and Janine Ricketts, all former employees of BMO's Cranbrook branch. Also named as a defendant is Wellington-Altus, a Winnipeg brokerage with a handful of branches in B.C. BMO complains that the four employees resigned as a group on March 12, 2021, and immediately began working for Wellington-Altus. According to BMO, their resignations were part of a move designed to make it very difficult for BMO to continue serving clients in the Cranbrook area. Wellington-Altus had sought the entirety of BMO's office as part of an effort to obtain as many accounts as it could. The nearest BMO branch to Cranbrook is hundreds of kilometres away. Leading up to the resignations, the defectors obtained contact information for BMO's clients (with that information described in the suit as being highly confidential and commercially sensitive). Such information would be extremely valuable to competitors, BMO says. In breach of their duties, the group disclosed this information to Wellington, the suit complains. BMO describes the actions of the group as being part of a far-reaching "civil conspiracy" in which Wellington has attempted to target and recruit BMO employees at more than one location. BMO says that its lawyer has sent letters to Wellington warning against the tactic, but the firm has persisted. The actions of Wellington, described as unlawful in the suit, included having BMO employees breach their employment contracts and codes of conduct. (With three of the four employees named in the lawsuit, BMO says that there were employment agreements that specifically barred solicitation of clients for a period of six months.) BMO is seeking an injunction barring Wellington and the former employees from soliciting its clients for a period of six months. It is also asking for the court-ordered deletion of all records related to its clients. The suit further seeks damages, court costs and interest. Vancouver lawyer Kelsey Sherriff filed the suit on BMO's behalf. Wellington has yet to file a response. BMO Nesbitt Burns is a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal. |