INVESCO Institutional’s lawsuit against Deutsche Asset Management over the departure of four INVESCO global partners was dismissed Wednesday by a U.S. District Court judge in New York. INVESCO had claimed that DeAM committed: “tortious interference, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duties, misappropriation of trade secrets, and unfair competition” in hiring the four employees. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein dismissed the four counts for “want of jurisdiction.” INVESCO can file an appeal on the four counts in New York State Supreme Court, where the suit originally had been filed before being moved by INVESCO to federal court. A fifth count, alleging Deutsche violated a federal law in issuing false and misleading news releases, was also dismissed.
Doug Kidd, INVESCO spokesman, said the company will file an action in state court before the end of the week. “Deutsche Bank has delayed the public presentation of evidence establishing their culpable behavior, but they have not avoided the inevitable time when this information will be presented to the court,” said Mr. Kidd in a statement.
Ted Meyer, DeAM spokesman, declined to comment.
