UnitedHealthcare is suing The Guardian for defamation over a story related to its billing for nursing home residents, reports Maxwell Tani of Semafor.
Tani reports, “In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, UnitedHealthcare said that The Guardian had knowingly published false information, and tried to capitalize on media interest in the killing of its then-CEO last year in New York. The health care company alleged that The Guardian cropped screenshots quoted in the article, taking the email out of its full context. It further disputed some of The Guardian’s characterizations of medical events in the story.
“‘The Guardian knew these accusations were false, but published them anyway, brazenly trying to capitalize on the tragic and shocking assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s then-CEO, Brian Thompson,’ the complaint says.
“UnitedHealthcare is being represented by the law firm Clare Locke, which has made a name for itself for aggressively pursuing defamation lawsuits against news media organizations.
“In a fiery statement first shared with Semafor, The Guardian said it was not backing down from its reporting following the lawsuit, saying that the story was backed up by documents and on-the-record lawsuits.”
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