de Jesus v. UnitedHealth Group

• Court: District Court, D. Arizona
• Decided: August 1, 2025
• Docket: 2:25-cv-02701
• Status: Unknown

Opinion

1 WO 2 3 4 5 6 IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 7 FOR THE DISTRICT OF ARIZONA

9 Myrna de Jesus, No. CV-25-02701-PHX-KML

10 Plaintiff, ORDER

11 v.

12 UnitedHealth Group,

13 Defendant. 14 15 Plaintiff Myrna de Jesus filed a complaint alleging claims against defendant 16 UnitedHealth Group. Plaintiff also filed an application to proceed in forma pauperis. 17 Plaintiff is entitled to proceed in forma pauperis but granting that application allows the 18 court to determine whether she has stated any claims for relief. 28 U.S.C. § 1915(e). She 19 has not. 20 I. Factual Background 21 Sometime prior to March 2, 2021, plaintiff entered into an employment agreement 22 with UnitedHealth. On March 2, 2021, UnitedHealth “knowingly and willfully breached” 23 that agreement by “unjustifiably terminat[ing]” plaintiff’s employment. (Doc. 1 at 5.) That 24 “termination was accompanied by racially discriminatory and derogatory remarks.” (Doc. 25 1 at 5.) 26 The same day plaintiff’s employment was terminated, UnitedHealth “published 27 multiple false and defamatory statements,” including that plaintiff “had used profane 28 language and exhibited hostile behavior toward patients.” (Doc. 1 at 5.) These statements 1 were “disseminated to third parties,” although plaintiff does not allege how or when that 2 dissemination occurred. (Doc. 1 at 5.) Plaintiff alleges the “defamatory claims have 3 persisted” as “recent employers” have “becom[e] aware of these accusation.” (Doc. 1 at 5.) 4 It is not clear what plaintiff means by alleging the “claims have persisted” and there are no 5 allegations explaining how UnitedHealth continues to make the “false and defamatory 6 statements.” 7 Finally, at some unidentified time UnitedHealth “failed to exercise basic security 8 measures, thereby exposing Plaintiff’s confidential files to unauthorized access.” (Doc. 1 9 at 5.) Plaintiff does not provide any details explaining these allegations but according to 10 plaintiff this “willful disregard for fundamental data protection protocols . . . constitutes 11 gross negligence.” (Doc. 1 at 5.) 12 Based on these factual allegations plaintiff seeks to pursue claims for “breach of 13 employment contract,” “slander per se,” and “negligence.” (Doc. 1 at 5.) Plaintiff seeks 14 nine million dollars in damages. (Doc. 1 at 5.) 15 II. Analysis 16 When a plaintiff is proceeding in forma pauperis, the court may “dismiss the case 17 at any time” if the complaint “fails to state a claim on which relief may be granted” or 18 “seeks monetary relief against a defendant who is immune from such relief.” 28 U.S.C. 19 § 1915(e)(2). Here, plaintiff’s claims are either barred by the statute of limitations or not 20 supported by sufficient factual allegations. 21 A. Breach of Employment Contract 22 Arizona has a one-year statute of limitations for claims asserting “breach of an oral 23 or written employment contract.” A.R.S. § 12-541(3). Plaintiff alleges UnitedHealth 24 breached the employment agreement on March 2, 2021. This suit was not filed until July 25 2025, more than three years beyond the statute of limitations. The claim for breach of 26 employment contract is dismissed without leave to amend. See U.S. ex rel. Air Control 27 Techs., Inc. v. Pre Con Indus., Inc., 720 F.3d 1174, 1178 (9th Cir. 2013) (allowing for 28 dismissal when “the running of the statute [of limitations] is apparent on the face of the 1 complaint”) (simplified). 2 B. Slander Per Se 3 Arizona has a one-year statute of limitations on claims for “libel or slander.” A.R.S. 4 § 12-541(1). Plaintiff alleges UnitedHealth first published the actionable statements in 5 March 2021. To the extent plaintiff is attempting to sue for statements made at that time, 6 her claim is barred by the statute of limitations. To the extent plaintiff may be attempting 7 to allege UnitedHealth repeated the statements more recently than March 2021, she has not 8 provided sufficient factual allegations identifying when or how UnitedHealth repeated the 9 statements. Plaintiff’s “slander per se” claim is dismissed with leave to amend. 10 C. Negligence 11 Plaintiff’s negligence claim is based on UnitedHealth exposing “confidential files 12 to unauthorized access.” (Doc. 1 at 5.) Even if the court assumes that mishandling 13 plaintiff’s “confidential files” might support a claim for negligence, plaintiff has not 14 provided sufficient facts explaining the basis for her claim. It is not sufficient for plaintiff 15 merely to make an “an unadorned . . . the-defendant-unlawfully-harmed-me accusation.” 16 Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009). This claim is also dismissed with leave to 17 amend. 18 D. Amendment 19 Plaintiff is granted leave to amend her claims for slander and negligence. If plaintiff 20 chooses to amend, the amended complaint must provide significantly more factual 21 allegations identifying the basis for her claims. To state a plausible slander claim plaintiff’s 22 amended complaint must identify the false statements, when and how they were published 23 to a third party, and facts showing UnitedHealth either knew the statements were “false 24 and defamatory” or it “recklessly disregarded or negligently failed to ascertain the truth or 25 defamatory nature of the statement[s].” ZombieBox Int’l Inc. v. Generac Power Sys. Inc., 26 721 F. Supp. 3d 798, 804 (D. Ariz. 2024). To state a plausible negligence claim, plaintiff’s 27 amended complaint must provide a more detailed factual background, including facts 28 establishing UnitedHealth owed her a duty, the facts showing UnitedHealth breached that duty, and an explanation of the damages plaintiff suffered. 2 Accordingly, 3 IT IS ORDERED the Application (Doc. 2) is GRANTED. 4 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED the complaint (Doc. 1) is DISMISSED WITH 5|| LEAVE TO AMEND. No later than August 15, 2025, plaintiff shall file an amended 6 || complaint that complies with the requirements set forth above. The Clerk of Court shall enter a judgment of dismissal with prejudice if no amended complaint is filed by that date. 8 Dated this Ist day of August, 2025. 9

Honorable Krissa M. Lanham 12 United States District Judge 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28

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