Aspen Responds to Liberty Mutual Lawsuit

Bermuda-based Aspen Insurance Holdings Limited says a lawsuit filed by Boston-based Liberty Mutual Group is without merit.

"We are aware of the complaint filed against Aspen by Liberty in the New York County Court,” the company today told Insurance Networking News. “Whilst it is not our policy to comment on ongoing litigation matters, we believe that the case is without merit and will act accordingly."

Last week Liberty filed suit against Aspen and nine former employees, all of whom resigned between Jan. 14 and Jan. 20 of this year.

The complaint says Bruce Eisler, former SVP at Professional Liability Division of the Liberty International Underwriters (LIU) unit, began communicating with Aspen in December 2009. “By virtue of his position, Eisler gained access to Plaintiffs’ most highly confidential proprietary information and trade secrets, including extensive data about Plaintiffs’ personnel, broker and program administrator relationships, insureds and their policies, ratings and rating engines, policy expiration and renewal dates and pricing,” the complaint reads. “The en masse departure of nine key employees of LIU’s professional liability insurance unit was clearly the result of Aspen’s conspiracy with Eisler and/or the other Individual Defendants—who at the time were still employed by Liberty—to recruit the Liberty employees whom they supervised.”

Liberty’s lawsuit echoes one filed in July 2009 by The Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., which accused New York-based Arch Insurance Group Inc., and its Bermuda-based parent Arch Capital Group Ltd., of stealing trade secrets in addition to many of The Hartford’s underwriters.