The lawsuit now characterizes UnitedHealth Group’s strategy in response to former CEO Brian Thompson’s death as “aggressive, anti-consumer tactics.”
Investors suing UnitedHealth Group claim that the company’s top-level management misled them by withholding information about how profits and operations would be affected by the death of its former chief executive, Brian Thompson.
According to CBS News, the proposed class-action lawsuit was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. In court documents, investor Roberto Faller alleges that UnitedHealth “artificially inflated prices” when it forecast earnings per share increasing from $29.50 to $30 in December.
Later, in January, UnitedHealth Group repeated its prediction, despite Thompson’s death generating intense scrutiny of the company and its practices.
Brian Thompson, who had served as UnitedHealth Group’s CEO since April 2021, was killed by a masked man with a silenced handgun in New York City in December 2024. The brazen killing made national headlines, but it failed to generate much sympathy for Thompson or his company. Instead, many people took the opportunity to criticize UnitedHealth Group for its high rate of claims denials, with some suggesting that Thompson’s actions as CEO made him accountable for far more deaths than suspected shooter Luigi Mangione.
The criticism of UnitedHealth Group was driven, in part, by the findings of an October 2024 Senate showing it had a higher-than-average rate of claim denials.
Faller’s lawsuit now characterizes UnitedHealth Group’s strategy in response to Thompson’s death as constituting “aggressive, anti-consumer tactics.” These tactics became “increasingly controversial” after Thompson died. Nevertheless, UnitedHealth Group remained unrealistically optimistic in providing an expected profit per share range of $29.50 to $30.
UnitedHealth Group eventually acquiesced and lowered its forecast to between $26 and $26.50.
Faller’s attorneys say that, prior to this revision, UnitedHealth Group made a series of “materially false and misleading” statements, all of which allegedly failed to adequately inform shareholders that the company “would have to adjust its strategy, which resulted in heightened denials compared to industry competitors.”
“As a result of Defendants’ wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Company’s securities, Plaintiff and other Class members have suffered significant losses and damages,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit also asks the federal judge overseeing the case to certify it as class-action lawsuit. If approved, the class would likely consist of anyone who purchased, sold, or owned UnitedHealth Group shares between December 3, 2024, and April 16, 2025.
The lawsuit names defendants including UnitedHealth Group chief executive Andrew Witty and chief financial officer John Rex.
Sources
UnitedHealth sued by investors over its response after CEO’s killing
UnitedHealthcare sued by shareholders over reaction to CEO’s killing
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