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Ameriprise Financial filed a civil complaint seeking injunctive relief and damages against LPL Financial and financial advisor Douglas Kenoyerwho recently left Ameriprise to join LPL.

The complaint, which concerns Kenoyer’s departure from Ameriprise on September 19 and his immediate affiliation with LPL, seeks a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to maintain the status quo pending arbitration between Ameriprise, LPL and Kenoyer with the Financial sector regulatory authoritythe dispute resolution arm of .

Kenoyer’s behavior before and after leaving Ameriprise “was riddled with misconduct and transgressions, supported and encouraged by LPL,” the complaint alleges.

Kenoyer “unfairly pre-solicited” Ameriprise customers to join him at LPL before his move and continued to solicit Ameriprise customers, according to the complaint. LPL and Kenoyer “routinely use confidential documents and information” misappropriated by Kenoyer from Ameriprise, according to the complaint.

Kenoyer claimed protections under the Broker Recruitment Protocol, but had previously violated the Protocol by pre-soliciting clients and taking confidential documents and information, according to the complaint. Both Ameriprise and LPL are signatories to the protocol, according to the complaint.

“Kenoyer engaged and is currently engaging in such misconduct with the knowledge and support of the LPL, whose habitual pattern and practice is to encourage recruits to violate their contractual agreements,” according to the complaint.

Ameriprise filed a lawsuit in July against LPL, alleging that it “engaged in a widespread practice of harvesting and misappropriating private and confidential customer information and trade secrets of Ameriprise.” The two companies jointly requested and obtained a stay of this lawsuit last month pending arbitration by Finra.

Kenoyer joined Ameriprise in 2006 and entered into the Ameriprise Independent Advisor Business Franchise Agreement in 2022, whereby he agreed not to solicit Ameriprise clients while with the company or for one year thereafter his departure, according to the complaint. Kenoyer also agreed not to “delete, disseminate or use” Ameriprise’s confidential information during or after his affiliation with the firm under the deal, according to the complaint.

At Ameriprise, Kenoyer participated in a program called Internal Client Transfer that allows an advisor to manage all or part of another advisor’s book of business. Kenoyer entered the program on June 1, 2022, gaining the ability to manage a retired advisor’s book, consisting of 1,031 new clients with total assets of $133,879,806, according to the complaint. Upon leaving Ameriprise, Kenoyer had 583 customers and $144,674,511 in assets, indicating that “the vast majority of its book of business was acquired through and is limited by this internal customer transfer”, requiring the advise the buyer to keep acquired customer information confidential. and not solicit customers acquired while affiliated with Ameriprise and for one year thereafter.

Kenoyer has been in the industry since 2006, when he registered with Ameriprise, and he remained registered with Ameriprise until September 20, 2024, according to his BrokerCheck filing. He registered with LPL on September 19, 2024, his BrokerCheck filing shows.

“Mr. Kenoyer blatantly violated broker recruiting protocol, misappropriated sensitive client data, and stole trade secrets. We look forward to presenting our evidence and proving our claims in court,” a spokesperson said. Ameriprise’s word in a statement provided to FA-IQ via email. .

“Time and time again, LPL struggles to recruit advisors under the terms of the Broker Recruitment Protocol, putting advisors and clients at risk,” the spokesperson added.

Kenoyer’s lawyer, Scott Matasarwith the Cleveland-based law firm Matasar Jacobssaid in an emailed statement to FA-IQ that the case against his client is at least the fifth that Ameriprise has filed against advisors who leave “in an effort to intimidate other FAs” who are considering leave.

“Ameriprise would be better off investing its time and resources into addressing the root causes that are causing their advisors to quit instead of retaliating against them for pursuing better opportunities,” Matasar said. “The allegations against Mr. Kenoyer in the complaint are entirely inaccurate. He looks forward to defending himself and presenting the truth in court.”

An LPL spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.