Executives and directors at DaVita Inc. are the target of a new lawsuit after the company settled a whisteblower complaint out of Texas last month for $55 million.
After a 10-year battle in the courts, the Denver-based kidney dialysis provider settled allegations it had improperly billed the government for hundreds of millions of dollars in wasted and unnecessary medicines.
That agreement, however, triggered another lawsuit in U.S. District Court for Colorado on Tuesday from Courtney Clark, a New York resident and DaVita shareholder.
Clark claims DaVita’s executive team, including chief executive Kent Thiry, violated their fiduciary duties to the company by not complying with federal regulations and the company’s own rules.
The legal argument will have to overcome the long-standing practice of companies indemnifying management in the course of their work.
“Suits of this nature are an unfortunate but fairly typical opportunistic litigation in this environment,” responded company spokesman Skip Thurman.
