UnitedHealth sued by investors over its response after CEO’s killing

UnitedHealth Group is being sued by investors who claim the company misled them by allegedly withholding information on how the company was being affected by a backlash prompted by its response to the December killing of top executive Brian Thompson.

In the proposed class action lawsuit filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York, investor Roberto Faller alleges UnitedHealth “artificially inflated prices” when the company initially forecast earnings per share of $29.50 to $30 in December. UnitedHealth then reaffirmed that outlook in January, despite mounting a backlash following an October Senate report on its high rate of claim denials and, later, the December killing of its CEO.

Faller’s complaint comes after UnitedHealth cut its 2025 forecast for adjusted profit per share to a lower range between $26 to $26.50. 

Attorneys argued that the company’s statements on performance expectations last year and earlier this year 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.”

The complaint described UnitedHealthcare’s strategy as “aggressive, anti-consumer tactics.” The tactics were becoming “increasingly controversial,” the complaint said, especially after the death of former UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Though widely condemned, his killing also triggered an outpouring of public rage over health insurance costs and claims denials.

Following the lower performance forecast, UnitedHealth’s stock price sank last month by about $130 in its worst one-day performance in over 25 years.

“The magnitude of the April 17, 2025 drop was such that it caused the Dow Jones Industrial Average to fall by 1.3%,” the counsel for Faller, who seeks to represent a class of investors, said in the complaint.

“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 complaint said.

The complaint asked a judge to certify it as a proper class action lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages for UnitedHealth investors from between Dec. 3, 2024, and April 16, 2025. The investors also named Chief Executive Andrew Witty and Chief Financial Officer John Rex as co-defendants in the complaint.

CBS News has reached out to UnitedHealth Group but it had no immediate comment.