Recruiting Firm Sued by JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan Chase accused a New York recruitment agency in a lawsuit on Thursday of helping Citadel Investment Group lure executives to leave the financial institution, according to The New York Times.

In the lawsuit, The IDW Group is accused of breaking its contract with JPMorgan to provide management and executive searches. Patrik Edsparr was included in the breach of contract as “one of JPMorgan’s most senior and valued executives on Citadel’s behalf.”

The motion was filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, saying that IDW “directly or indirectly solicited, induced, recruited, and enticed multiple JPMorgan employees to leave JPMorgan for positions elsewhere including at Citadel.”

IDW arranged several meets between the executive and Citadel’s senior management, including its CEO Kenneth Griffin.

“On information and belief, IDW encouraged Edsparr to accept an offer to become a highly compensated employee of Citadel,” according to the lawsuit.

JPMorgan’s complaint said that Edsparr left between April 22 and July 11, five more employees: Derek Kaufman, William King, Jorge Picazo, John Niccolai and John Naud—resigned to join Citadel, according to NYT.

The motion is also asking the court to prevent the agency from using or disclosing confidential, proprietary, and personal information and ordering any similar information to be returned to JPMorgan.