Robinhood sued for wrongful death by family of 20-year-old who died by suicide
Last June, 20-year-old Alex Kearns died by suicide, blaming stock trading app Robinhood for his death. He mistakenly believed he’d lost $730,000, and that the company was coming for more than $170,000 of that money in a matter of days. His family now agrees that it was Robinhood’s fault — on Monday, they sued the company for wrongful death.
According to the complaint, Kearns never owed any money at all, but that didn’t stop the Robinhood app from suggesting that he did, or sending him an “immediate action required” email telling him he needed to deposit $178,612.73 by June 17th.
Here’s a screenshot one of his relatives shared on Twitter last June of what the app reportedly showed him at the time:
Kearns reportedly tried to contact Robinhood’s support department four times, but only got an automated message. The day after he died, Robinhood sent another automated message to let him know he didn’t actually owe money at all, according to a CBS News story that includes an interview with Kearns’ family.
Later that month, when the news of his death spread, Robinhood promised to change how its app worked, educate its users, and pledged $250,000 to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
The new lawsuit isn’t the only reason this story is freshly relevant. Robinhood is also now facing dozens of lawsuits for its role in the GameStop / Reddit / Wall Street Bets saga, where individual traders banded together to manipulate stocks that had been shorted, but some traders are blaming them for huge losses after Robinhood froze how much and when they could invest. The company’s software also automatically sold some options (though not shares, Robinhood claims) out from under traders.
Either way, the huge run on GameStop now seems to be over, and unlike Kearns, many people may have lost tremendous amounts of real money gambling via Robinhood and other apps. If you know someone who did, they can find the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
Last June, 20-year-old Alex Kearns died by suicide, blaming stock trading app Robinhood for his death. He mistakenly believed he’d lost $730,000, and that the company was coming for more than $170,000 of that money in a matter of days. His family now agrees that it was Robinhood’s fault —…
Recent Posts
- Microsoft says Copilot app in Windows Server was a mistake
- Netflix is all about the money, not the members
- DJI launches its own power stations to charge your drones when far from home
- It took 20 years for Children of the Sun to become an overnight success
- Senate advances vote on reauthorizing warrantless surveillance program
Archives
- April 2024
- March 2024
- February 2024
- January 2024
- December 2023
- November 2023
- October 2023
- September 2023
- August 2023
- July 2023
- June 2023
- May 2023
- April 2023
- March 2023
- February 2023
- January 2023
- December 2022
- November 2022
- October 2022
- September 2022
- August 2022
- July 2022
- June 2022
- May 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- February 2022
- January 2022
- December 2021
- November 2021
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- July 2021
- June 2021
- May 2021
- April 2021
- March 2021
- February 2021
- January 2021
- December 2020
- November 2020
- October 2020
- September 2020
- August 2020
- July 2020
- June 2020
- May 2020
- April 2020
- March 2020
- February 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- December 2011