Talking trash about a competitor may be as old as humanity. But a Florida-based workers’ compensation insurance broker is charging that some bad-mouthing by another broker cost it a long-standing relationship with major insurance carrier.
Comp360 LLC, with headquarters in Lakeland, Florida, and offices in Kansas, has filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court, alleging that KT Enterprises spread misinformation about the firm to Summit Insurance Co.
“Defendants have interfered with plaintiff’s relationship with Summit by spreading falsehoods to Summit regarding plaintiff and plaintiff’s principal’s character,” the lawsuit complaint reads. “Defendants’ spread of falsehoods has caused Summit to drop plaintiff as a broker.”
The lawsuit, initially filed in Polk County Circuit Court in Florida but moved last week to the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, names Kevin Taban and Eddie Bryant as defendants. They and others with KT Enterprises could not be reached for comment before deadline.
Comp360’s president is Fielding Dickey. He launched the company in 2005 after working as a loss consultant with Summit Holdings, the firm’s website shows. He declined comment Tuesday, while the suit is pending.
The complaint, handled by Blue Chip Law in Tampa, does not go into detail about the nature of the alleged defamation, or how widespread such tactics may be in the comp insurance world. But it said that beginning in June 2021, Taban, Bryant and KT began feeding misinformation to Summit about Comp360 and its principal, “in hopes of destroying plaintiff’s relationship with Summit.”
The alleged communications may have worked. Comp360 charges tortious interference and claims that Summit dropped Comp360 as a broker shortly after the defamation began.
“The Defendants’ business conduct described above shows they have continuously taken action contrary to honest practice in industrial or commercial matters as it relates to their efforts to compete with Plaintiff for a common pool of clients and vendors,” the complaint reads. “Defendants have purposely engaged in conduct to remove a key insurer from the plaintiff’s offering so the defendants could obtain a larger market share and unfairly compete with plaintiff by claiming to offer products plaintiff could not (because defendants improperly interfered with the relationship).”
The suit asks for more than $100,000 in compensatory damages and punitive damages.
KT Enterprises has not yet filed an answer to the complaint.
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