According to the Grubb complaint, various brokers left the company’s employment as “the result of Mobley’s efforts to solicit the other Grubb & Ellis brokers – both before and after Mobley himself resigned from Grubb & Ellis – to leave en masse to join Cushman & Wakefield.” The suit claims that Mobley encouraged 14 Grubb employees to leave the company. The suit refers to these individuals as “the Raided Brokers.” According to the suit, “But for the raid, the Raided Brokers would have continued their employment with Grubb & Ellis.” Cushman is accused in the suit as well. “Mobley’s scheme could not have been accomplished without the knowledge, agreement and support of Cushman and Wakefield.”

There were also some Grubb employees who left the company recently but did not join Cushman, including Transwestern hiring Vineet Sahgal and Jim Higdon, and Avison Young hiring John Zeismer, Kevin Moore, Kimberlyn de Buhr and Brian Means.

The suit claims Mobley violated his fiduciary duties at Grubb, and violated the terms of his employment agreement, signed when he joined the firm in May 2005 and was promoted in May 2009. In his 2005 hire, Grubb asserts Mobley agreed to not “solicit for employment/association or employ/engage any then current employee or independent contractor of the company, or counsel any then current employee or independent contractor of the company to leave the employ of, or association with, the company.”

The suit also asserts that in Mobley’s May 2009 promotion agreement, he agreed that “If and when you cease to be employed by Grubb & Ellis, you agree that for a period of one year following your date of termination, you will not solicit (either directly or indirectly) for employment any employees or independent contractors of the company.”

According to the suit, Grubb & Ellis has put itself up for sale, and this action by Mobley has harmed the possible transaction. The company is asking for damages of more than $75,000. There is no date yet set for court action.