First Interstate Bank files lawsuit against former employees

First Interstate Bank has filed a civil lawsuit against seven former employees of its Sheridan branch. 

According to a complaint filed with the U.S. District Court of Wyoming on April 12, on March 22, 2021 the seven defendants announced their intention to end their employment with FIB and work for a competitor, Glacier Bank. 

Court documents state that “since that time FIB has discovered that the Individual Employees violated their duty of loyalty and breached the FIB Code of Conduct by soliciting FIB employees to leave FIB, misappropriating FIB’s trade secrets and other proprietary information, and interfering with FIB’s existing and prospective contracts.” 

The lawsuit alleges the former employees took confidential bank information before leaving to use in competition with FIB and “have profited and will continue to profit from the misappropriation of FIB’s proprietary and confidential customer information.”   

Seven former employees are named in the lawsuit; David Hubert – former market president and senior vice president of FIB, Nicole Christensen – former commercial group manager II and vice president of FIB, Donovan McComb – former vice president at FIB, Jay Martinson – former assistant vice-president of FIB, John Dick – former member of the commercial banking unit, Kimberlee Newman – former member of the commercial banking unit and Myriah Phelps – also a former member of the commercial banking unit. 

The complaint states, “According to the Bank’s internal records of printing activity, Defendants printed proprietary information during their last days working at FIB. 

In the document, FIB also alleges that “Defendants made misrepresentations to current FIB clients and business partners, including an auto dealer, that FIB is being sold and/or is leaving the market. These representations are false, and on information and belief, Defendants know them to be false.”

The complaint seeks a jury trial as well as injunctions preventing the Defendants from continuing to posses and exploit FIB’s information and states that the “Defendants are liable to FIB for FIB’s actual losses, including lost profits and the Defendant’s unjust enrichment, in an amount to be proven at trial.” 

Stuart Day, with Williams, Porter, Day & Neville P.C., the Casper based law office representing the seven former employees, told Sheridan Media the process is in the early stages of litigation.