UnitedHealth's headquarters in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Credit: wolterke/Adobe Stock;
A group of investors last week filed a proposed class-action lawsuit against UnitedHealth Group, alleging that the company withheld information following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last December. CEO Andrew Witty and CFO John Rex were named as codefendants.
In the lawsuit, filed in the Southern District of New York, investor Robert Faller alleged that UnitedHealth artificially inflated prices when the company initially forecast earnings per share of $29.50 to $30 in December. It repeated that forecast in January despite Thompson’s death and an earlier Senate report about the company’s high rate of claim denials.
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These performance expectations were "materially false and misleading," because UnitedHealth didn't tell shareholders "it would have to adjust its strategy, which resulted in heightened denials compared to industry competitors,” according to the plaintiffs’ attorney.
Last month, the company’s stock experienced its worst one-day performance in more than a quarter-century. UnitedHealth shares fell 22.4% on April 17, wiping out about $119 billion of market value, after the insurer cut its 2025 forecast for adjusted profit to between $26 and $26.50 per share.
"The magnitude of the April 17, 2025, drop was such that it caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall by 1.3%,” the attorney said. "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 plaintiffs asked for the case to be certified as a class-action lawsuit and seek unspecified damage for people who invested in UnitedHealth between Dec. 3, 2024, and April 16, 2025. Lawyers for the plaintiffs believe there could be thousands of members in the proposed class who are entitled to “substantial damages,” according to the suit.
UnitedHealth “denies any allegations of wrongdoing and intends to defend the matter vigorously,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The investor lawsuit was filed after the California Public Employees’ Retirement System amended a similar complaint, alleging that UnitedHealth misled investors about its Medicare Advantage billing practices, including upcoding that inflated revenue by falsely diagnosing patients.
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Alan Goforth
Alan Goforth is a freelance writer in suburban Kansas City. In addition to freelancing for several publications, he has written a dozen books about sports and other topics.
