Retirement Planners of America Wins Large Arbitration Award Against Ex-Employee for Breach of Contract   

McKINNEY, Texas – A Collin County judge affirmed a $1.4 million arbitration award against a former employee who breached his contractual and fiduciary obligations to MMWKM Advisors, which does business as Retirement Planners of America (RPOA), a Plano-based investment advisory firm.

Arbitrator Anne Ashby, a retired Dallas County judge, found that Philip Floyd had “solicited another MMWKM employee, Joseph Dowdall, to work with him on a scheme to use the information and client relationships they had received access to from [RPOA] to serve their own financial interests.”

Mr. Floyd in 2019 signed an Investment Adviser Representative Agreement in which he agreed that for three years after leaving the company that trained him and provided him with clients, he would not use the company’s confidential information, and that if he accepted the business of any of his former employer’s clients he would purchase the client relationships at a contractually agreed price.

Lead AZA lawyer Ryan Hackney said the arbitrator found that Mr. Floyd misused confidential company information, solicited other employees and referral sources and failed to pay the contractually agreed amount to purchase the relationships of clients he had been introduced to by his employer.

Retirement Planners of America was founded by Ken Moraif, who hosts a popular radio show on investing called “Money Matters with Ken Moraif” in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The firm offers investment management, financial planning, investment strategies and other financial services.

The award includes approximately $939,370 in damages, $24,808 in prejudgment interest and $436,161 in attorneys’ fees.

(UPDATE: In a separate arbitration proceeding, Joseph Dowdall was ordered to pay $3.4 million to RPOA for his actions in the same scheme.)

The case is MMWKM Advisors, LLC, Series ERD I, LLC, and Elias R. Dragon vs. Philip Floyd, Case No. 01-21-0002-6330 under the American Arbitration Association.

AZA is a Houston-based law firm that is home to true courtroom lawyers with a formidable track record in complex commercial litigation, including energy, healthcare, intellectual property and business dispute cases. AZA is recognized by Chambers USA 2022 among the best in Texas commercial law and intellectual property; by U.S. News – Best Lawyers’ Best Law Firms as one of the country’s best commercial litigation firms for 10 years running; has been named Litigation Department of the Year by Texas Lawyer three times including for 2021; and was previously dubbed by Law360 a Texas Powerhouse law firm.