Executives and directors at DaVita Inc. have found themselves 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 finally settled allegations the company had improperly billed the federal government for hundreds of millions 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 CEO Kent Thiry, violated their fiduciary duties to the company by not complying with federal regulations and the company's own rules.
Clark is suing the executives on the company's behalf, asking them to personally reimburse the company $55 million plus another $23 million in legal fees from the original case.
"Plaintiff brings this action to recover for the benefit of the company the damages caused by the individual defendants," the complaint said.
The legal argument, however, will have to overcome the long standing practice of companies indemnifying management in the course of their work. The initial settlement also did not trigger a drop in DaVita shares, a typical source of damages claimed in most shareholder lawsuits.
"Suits of this nature are an unfortunate but fairly typical opportunistic litigation in this environment," responded company spokesman Skip Thurman.
Aldo Svaldi: 303-954-1410, asvaldi@denverpost.com or twitter.com/aldosvaldi
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21286376/davita-settlement-triggers-lawsuit-colorado-court
