The parent company of former real estate brokerage Grubb & Ellis has sued Toronto-based rival Avison Young for allegedly poaching its D.C. employees and business while Grubb & Ellis was working through Chapter 11 . BGC Partners , which bought Grubb & Ellis out of bankruptcy in April 2012, says Avison Young's D.C. office conspired to get Grubb brokers to illegally transfer business, commissions, client data and other trade assets without disclosing them to the bankruptcy court.