Gill

I. INTRODUCTION

16 Plaintiff Manpreet Gill (“Gill”) filed this action against his former employer, Defendant 17 Marsh USA, LLC (“Marsh”), averring that Marsh forced Gill to enter into illegal contracts while 18 employed at Marsh. Marsh, in turn, filed five counterclaims against Gill, which Gill now moves to 19 dismiss. Gill separately seeks to strike Marsh’s request for attorney’s fees and first affirmative 20 defense of unclean hands. For the reasons set forth herein, Gill’s motion to dismiss the 21 counterclaims is granted in part and denied in part, with leave to amend. Additionally, the motion 22 to strike is granted in part and denied in part, without leave to amend.

II. BACKGROUND

24 Marsh is an insurance and risk management services limited liability company (“LLC”) 25 incorporated in Delaware. Prior to his resignation in March of 2024, Gill worked at Marsh for 26 nearly 20 years. His last role at the company was Managing Director of the Communications, 27 Media, and Technology Practice Leader for the Western United States Region. Following his resignation, Gill accepted a similar role at Lockton, a brokerage firm and Marsh’s competitor. Trevor Smith, Gill’s…