JPMorgan Chase & Co. sued a former private client adviser who jumped ship to Wells Fargo & Co., accusing him of violating a post-employment agreement by seeking to solicit former clients worth more than $250 million.

Gary Carruthers, who resigned Sept. 30 after 15 years with JPMorgan, has already persuaded more than two dozen former clients with $24.3 million in assets under management to transfer their business to Wells Fargo, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in New York state court in Manhattan.

Carruthers was barred by contracts in 2009 and 2012 from soliciting former JPMorgan clients for a year after leaving, according to the suit. The New York-based bank alleges Wells Fargo “incentivized” Carruthers to breach the restrictions with financial inducements totaling more than $1 million to switch jobs.

The suit is the latest example of Wall Street banks clashing over employment agreements that seek to rein in former workers. The US Federal Trade Commission voted earlier this year for a near-total ban on more restrictive non-compete provisions that prohibit workers from switching jobs within an industry. The FTC action was later blocked by a federal judge, but companies still clash over allegations of stolen trade secrets and client lists.

Wells Fargo, which isn’t named as a defendant in the suit, declined to comment. Carruthers didn’t return a call to his office in Woodbury, New York.

JPMorgan also didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment.

JPMorgan alleges Carruthers, who worked out of East Northport, New York, engaged in “highly suspicious” computer activity during the month before he resigned, rapidly accessing “an unusually high number of client profiles.”

‘Highly Confidential’

“The client profiles accessed by Carruthers contain highly confidential client information, including client names, addresses, e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and other information needed to solicit JPMorgan clients upon his resignation,” JPMorgan said in the complaint.

The bank says Carruthers had about 369 clients with about $250 million under management at the time of his resignation, and that the “vast majority” of them were either pre-existing clients or were assigned to him by others at the bank.

JPMorgan says several of its clients informed the bank that Carruthers had reached out to them to discuss his move to Wells Fargo and suggesting they follow him there. Carruthers falsely told the clients he was required by federal law to alert them to the change, JPMorgan says.

The suit seeks a temporary injunction barring Carruthers from trying to recruit former clients until the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority issues a decision in a parallel dispute resolution process. The suit also seeks a court order forcing Carruthers to return within 24 hours of a judge’s signature any records or documents pertaining to JPMorgan clients.

The case is JPMorgan Securities LLC v. Carruthers, Supreme Court of the State of New York (Manhattan).