Zurich sues ex-head of management liability Mastellone for alleged poaching

By Isha Marathe

May 20 - (The Insurer) - Zurich has sued former head of management liability in its national accounts business Brian Mastellone for allegedly breaching his duty of loyalty to the company by recruiting at least two employees to join Everest.

In the lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut, Zurich accused Mastellone of soliciting a team lead in management liability in the northeast region, Kayden Becker, and a market-facing underwriter, Kelsey O’Brien, to terminate their employment at Zurich and join him at his new company, Everest.

By doing so, Zurich alleged Mastellone broke a 2021 participation agreement he had entered into, which barred him from attempting to "recruit, solicit, or induce" any employee or agent who had access to confidential company information to sever their relationship with the business, the complaint said.

Zurich believes that Becker and O'Brien had access to confidential information about the company, the complaint said.

Mastellone worked at Zurich for 14 years before leaving for Everest on October 25, 2024. Under the terms of his participation agreement, he could not engage in any recruitment of Zurich employees until October 25, 2025, the insurer said.

The complaint said that Mastellone began soliciting Becker and O'Brien while still employed by Zurich in his managerial capacity, and continued to do so after leaving the company via in-person meetings, text messages and phone calls.

Zurich is suing Mastellone for breach of contract of his participation agreement, tortious interference with a business relationship, and breach of his duty of loyalty. The company is seeking a jury trial on all issues, and compensatory and punitive damages to be determined at trial, albeit in excess of $75,000.

This is at least the second suit that Zurich has filed in 2025 against a former employee for leaving the company for Everest and breaking contractual obligations by soliciting its employees. In January, the company sued Brian Zink in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleging that he attempted to recruit six Zurich employees to join Everest.

Among those were Mastellone, Becker and O'Brien, who each left within a year after Zink's departure.

On April 9, Zink's counsel filed a letter to the judge stating that Zurich and Zink had agreed to settle the matter out of court.

Zurich declined to comment.

Mastellone's counsel did not respond to a request for comment.

Zink's counsel did not respond to a request for comment.

Everest did not respond to a request for comment.