AWARD SET AGAINST EX-EMPLOYEES

Millennium Insurance Agency Inc., headquartered in Houston, won a $10.7 million judgment against three former employees who had allegedly conspired to, among other things, convert and misappropriate confidential information from the company. According to Millennium, the 127th District Court in Houston found that in addition to conspiring to convert and misappropriate confidential information, the three former employees—Samuel T. Houston, Rebecca R. Johnson and Steve E. Burdette—conspired to breach their fiduciary duty to Millennium and interfere with existing and prospective contracts. Millennium alleges that the three former employees removed files from the company’s office early on Aug. 28, 2002. It was later learned that the three were forming a new insurance agency, Sam Houston and Associates LLC. Michael Stroman, president of Millennium, said that although there is a cap on exemplary damages in Texas, the cap did not apply because a jury found that Houston, Johnson and Burdette had committed theft of property in excess of $20,000. Millennium was awarded a total of $9.5 million of exemplary damages from the trio.