UnitedHealthcare Tells Employees to 'Shut Up'

Accusations against slain CEO Brian Thompson are part of the story. Media should cover it.

UnitedHealthcare wasted no time telling its employees not to talk to the press in the wake of the killing of its CEO Brian Thompson, according to an internal company memo I obtained. Thompson has been accused of profiting off of insider selling before an anti-trust investigation by the Justice Department was publicly revealed — part of the story employees say they wish the media would cover.

“You can tell they really just want us to shut up and not acknowledge it,” a source within the company told me. “Supervisors are afraid to speak up about the corruption for fear of losing our jobs. It’s like we’re being forced to lionize Brian instead of analyze who he was.”

Here’s what the memo sent to UnitedHealthcare employees yesterday morning says:

“…we ask that you adhere to our corporate communication policy regarding interactions with the news media. All media inquiries should be directed to our Communications Department. Please refrain from making any statements or comments to the media to ensure that our communications remain consistent and respectful.”

United’s communications department did not respond to a request for comment.

In an internal video statement sent to employees, CEO of UnitedHealth Group (UnitedHealthcare’s parent company) Andrew Witty said, “Brian was a truly extraordinary person who touched the lives of countless people throughout our organization and beyond.”

Rank-and-file employees at UnitedHealthcare tell a different story.

“Thompson took massive pay outs while we at the bottom had to work harder and longer,” one employee told me. “Meanwhile Witty brought in AI to learn from us. So they have the money for AI and massive bonuses, but we’re still using software that is massively behind the industry standard. They’ve been lying to us.”

Resentment for Thompson was widespread at the company, the employee said, citing an internal company announcement about his death that only garnered 28 comments despite being seen by 16,000 employees.

Screenshot of internal UnitedHealth Group message board

In a July earnings call, Witty touted the firm’s investment in artificial intelligence, saying it “will generate billions of dollars of efficiencies over the next several years,” including by enhancing “provider find and price care capabilities…”

Thompson’s death, nevertheless, has provoked widespread condemnation of the company, of the insurance industry, which will undoubtedly result in “efficiencies” that lay off workers and amplify the inequities of insurance-driven health care. (UnitedHealthcare, which insures more than 10 percent of the American population, made $8.9 billion in profit through the first three quarters of this year.)

Company financial disclosures show that Thompson’s annual compensation, including bonuses, was $10.2 million. In March, Thompson was sued by a firefighters pension accusing him of selling off $15 million of company stock during a Justice Department antitrust investigation, as I wrote about yesterday. The UnitedHealth Care employee also criticized Thompson’s reported sale of $5.6 million in company stock the same day as news of a ransomware attack plunged the stock’s value by 8 percent.

I’ve taken a lot of heat for reporting critically on Thompson. I’ve been accused of being insensitive or worse — condoning his murder. I do not. I just don’t believe it’s the job of a journalist to withhold facts because they’re uncomfortable. Sadly much of the major media are doing exactly that.

USA TODAY began one of its stories on Thompson’s killing describing him as a “well-liked executive,” a “Midwesterner” and a “father” before lamenting how he “became a meme and source of ridicule on social media.” The USA TODAY report made no mention of the accusations against Thompson.

Don’t the accusations of profiteering and disregard for workers at least merit a passing mention, even just as context to perhaps understand the killing? The major media might find it distasteful that so many are taking to social media to express their contempt for the health insurance industry. Meanwhile, as the leaked email shows, the company is trying its hardest to control the narrative (to the benefit of the company).

Christina Elliott, a senior company official, instructed employees to “avoid social media,” adding that she had deleted her own accounts.

This story is yet another example of how ill suited the major media is in reporting important truths when norms and conventions get in the way — in this case social mores around death (even of a powerful public person.) Help us stay on the parts of this story deemed too awkward for big media outlets by subscribing below.

— Edited by William M. Arkin