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by Mike Caswell

Former PI Financial Corp. employee Jeffrey Woods denies that he did anything wrong in leaving the firm and taking some of his clients with him. Mr. Woods, who is responding to a defection lawsuit from PI, says that clients and investment advisers are entitled to change firms. PI publicly says as much in a brochure designed to lure potential employees, he contends.

Mr. Woods is responding to a lawsuit that PI filed against him in the Supreme Court of British Columbia on May 30, 2023. The suit arose from Mr. Woods's resignation from PI, which came on Jan. 16, 2023. PI complained that Mr. Woods suddenly left the firm's Victoria branch on that date, providing no notice. He then took PI's confidential information with him to his new employer, Leede Jones Gable Inc., allowing Leede to target PI clients and solicit their business, PI said.

As PI saw things, Mr. Woods's actions violated his employment agreement, which required him to provide two weeks of notice before leaving, the suit claimed. The agreement also specified that Mr. Woods would not disclose or use PI's confidential information, the firm contended. PI claimed that some number of clients left the firm for Leede. PI sought appropriate damages.

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