Court Approval Ends Last Backdating Suit against
UnitedHealth
August 24, 2009 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A federal
judge's signature approving a $17-million settlement in a
stock drop case against UnitedHealth Group has resolved the
final piece of litigation against the health care company
over its stock option backdating practices.
U.S. District Judge James M. Rosenbaum of the U.S.
District Court for the District of Minnesota granted
final approval to the deal last week after preliminarily
okaying it in February, the Associated Press
reported.
Among other charges, the suit settled by the last
order had included allegations the backdating practices
left the company's stock artificially inflated and that the
retirement plan lost significant assets when the
UnitedHealth share price declined.
Last month, Rosenbaum approved a separate
settlement resolving a derivatives case that pitted
UnitedHealth shareholders against former chairman and CEO
William McGuire and several other company executives
(see
Judge Approves $925M UnitedHealth Backdating Suit
Settlement
).
Earlier this month, Rosenbaum also approved another
class-action settlement amounting to more than $925
million. UnitedHealth will pay $895 million toward that
settlement. McGuire contributed $30 million and cancelled
3.6 million stock options.
Problems with options backdating led to several
lawsuits and forced McGuire to leave his post three years
ago (see
UnitedHealth's McGuire To Depart over Stock Options
Scandal
).
Company spokesman Don Nathan has said UnitedHealth
has already accounted for those settlements so the
amounts will not affect future earnings.
"We are pleased to have resolved all these matters
and are continuing to focus on serving people and helping
them lead healthier lives," he told the Associated
Press.
Fred Schneyer
editors@plansponsor.com