Chubb's top Asia-Pacific executive has been named in a lawsuit brought by the man whoused to run its Australian business.
Ben Howell, who led the insurer's general insurance operations in Australia and New Zealand until April, filed a claim in the Federal Court of Australia's New South Wales registry on 9 October. He alleges breaches of the general protections provisions of Australia's Fair Work Act, according to the Commonwealth Courts Portal.
The lead respondent is the local unit, Chubb Insurance Australia Limited. Alongside it, the court file lists 11 individuals: Bruce Bollom, Olivier Bouchard, Mark Eggleton, Andrew Gourley, Marcos Gunn, Sally Loane, Paul McNamee, Jane Michie, Timothy Rowe, Gary Seymour and Giles Ward. Reports indicate the group includes senior executives and members of the board.
Gunn is regional president of Chubb Overseas General for Asia-Pacific and was Howell's direct boss. He also oversees the insurer's regional country leaders, including Gurudutt Joglekar in Malaysia.
McNamee, a former Chubb regional president for Asia-Pacific, was appointed president of overseas general insurance and an executive vice president of Chubb Group in 2024.
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Howell filed an originating application, a statement of claim and a genuine steps statement on the same day. The court portal lists the documents but not their contents, and so far it shows only filings made by Howell. He is represented by Harmers Workplace Lawyers.
None of the allegations has been tested in court. Insurance Business has approached Chubb and Harmers Workplace Lawyers for comment.
For readers outside Australia, a general protections claim is broadly a claim that someone suffered "adverse action", such as being sidelined or dismissed, for a prohibited reason. Exercising a workplace right, such as raising a complaint about compliance with workplace law, is one example, the Fair Work Ombudsman explains.
Under section 550 of the Act, a person "involved in" a contravention can be treated as having committed it. So a claimant can name directors and senior managers personally, as the Australian Institute of Company Directors has explained.
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Howell began at Chubb as an underwriter in Sydney in 2002, worked for other global insurers, and rejoined in 2016, according to Chubb.
Before taking the Australia and New Zealand job, he spent two years in Singapore as executive vice president and head of consumer for Chubb Asia-Pacific. He became country president for Australia and New Zealand in September 2024, reporting to Gunn, and joined the board of the Insurance Council of Australia in October 2025.
He left Chubb in April 2026. The insurer did not formally announce or explain his exit.
Chris Colahan, who joined in February as head of commercial property and casualty for Asia-Pacific after serving as AIG's regional president for Asia-Pacific, became interim country president.
In August, Chubb named Jon Longmore as country president for New Zealand, reporting to Colahan. Longmore previously led Chubb's general insurance businesses in Indonesia and then Malaysia. Kathleen Warden, formerly AIG's top executive in Australia, was due to join Chubb as head of Pacific property and casualty this month.
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The case sits on a provisional docket with the court's National Operations Registrar. Its number is NSD1882/2026.
