Shareholder Alert: Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP Announces the Filing of Securities Class Action Lawsuit Against UnitedHealth Group Inc.
May 14 2024 - 9:21PM
Business Wire
Today, prominent investor rights law firm Bernstein Litowitz
Berger & Grossmann LLP (“BLB&G”) filed a class action
lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota
alleging violations of the federal securities laws by UnitedHealth
Group Inc. (“UnitedHealth” or the “Company”) and certain of the
Company’s senior executives (collectively, “Defendants”). The
action is brought on behalf of all persons or entities that
purchased shares of UnitedHealth’s common stock between March 14,
2022, and February 27, 2024, inclusive (the “Class Period”).
BLB&G filed this action on behalf of its client, City of
Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund, and the case is captioned
City of Hollywood Firefighters’ Pension Fund v. UnitedHealth Group
Inc., No. 24-cv-1743 (D. Minn.). The complaint is based on an
extensive investigation and a careful evaluation of the merits of
this case. A copy of the complaint is available on BLB&G’s
website by clicking here.
UnitedHealth’s Alleged
Fraud
UnitedHealth is an American multinational health insurance and
services company comprised of two distinct and complementary
businesses: Optum and UnitedHealthcare. UnitedHealthcare provides
health insurance to individuals, employers, and small businesses
and is the largest insurance provider in the United States. Optum
provides healthcare-related services, including software solutions,
payment services, and data analytics.
On January 6, 2021, UnitedHealth announced an agreement to
acquire Change Healthcare (“Change”) and integrate it into its
Optum business. Change is a healthcare technology company that
provides data solutions aimed at improving clinical decision making
and simplifying payment processes across the healthcare system. On
February 24, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) filed a
lawsuit challenging UnitedHealth’s acquisition of Change. The DOJ
alleged that the proposed acquisition would violate antitrust laws
because the integration of Change and Optum would give UnitedHealth
unparalleled access to information regarding nearly every health
insurer, as well as health data on every single American.
Ultimately, the court in the DOJ action permitted the acquisition,
repeatedly crediting UnitedHealth’s firewall policy and commitment
to preventing the sharing of data between UnitedHealthcare and
Optum as the rationale for allowing the deal to proceed.
The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period,
UnitedHealth repeatedly assured investors that it had taken steps
to avoid anti-competitive behavior, including by setting up “robust
firewall processes” to prevent customer sensitive information
(“CSI”) from being shared between UnitedHealthcare and Optum after
the merger. Specifically, UnitedHealth explicitly stated that Optum
“invests extraordinary time, money, and resources into safeguarding
[CSI] and keeping it walled off from UnitedHealthcare” and that
“UnitedHealth Group’s existing firewalls and data-security policies
prohibit employees from improperly sharing external-customer CSI.”
As a result of these misrepresentations, UnitedHealth stock traded
at artificially inflated prices during the Class Period.
The truth emerged on February 27, 2024, when the Wall Street
Journal reported that the DOJ had re-opened its antitrust
investigation into UnitedHealth. In that article, the public
learned for the first time that the DOJ was investigating the
relationships between the Company’s various segments, including
Optum. As a result of this disclosure, the price of UnitedHealth
stock declined by $27 per share, erasing nearly $25 billion in
shareholder value.
If you wish to serve as Lead Plaintiff for the Class, you must
file a motion with the Court no later than July 15, 2024, which is
the first business day on which the U.S. District Court for the
District of Minnesota is open that is 60 days after the publication
date of May 14, 2024. Any member of the proposed Class may seek to
serve as Lead Plaintiff through counsel of their choice, or may
choose to do nothing and remain a member of the proposed Class.
If you wish to discuss this action or have any questions
concerning this notice or your rights or interests, please contact
Scott R. Foglietta of BLB&G at 212-554-1903, or via e-mail at
scott.foglietta@blbglaw.com.
About BLB&G
BLB&G is widely recognized worldwide as a leading law firm
advising institutional investors on issues related to corporate
governance, shareholder rights, and securities litigation. Since
its founding in 1983, BLB&G has built an international
reputation for excellence and integrity and pioneered the use of
the litigation process to achieve precedent-setting governance
reforms. Unique among its peers, BLB&G has obtained several of
the largest and most significant securities recoveries in history,
recovering over $40 billion on behalf of defrauded investors. More
information about the firm can be found online at
www.blbglaw.com.
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Scott R. Foglietta Bernstein Litowitz Berger & Grossmann LLP
1251 Avenue of the Americas, 44th Floor New York, New York 10020
(212) 554-1903 scott.foglietta@blbglaw.com