The family of a 20-year-old student who ended his life after believing he was accumulating large business losses at Robinhood Markets Inc. he filed a lawsuit against the company, saying his “reckless conduct caused the death of one of its victims.”
The father, mother and sister of Alex Kearns, a Robinhood user and college student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said in a lawsuit filed Monday in California state court that Robinhood contributed to his death through “Misleading communications” about your investments and “virtually non-existent” customer service. They seek unspecified damages.
“We were devastated by the death of Alex Kearns,” a Robinhood spokesman said in an email. “We remain committed to making Robinhood a place to learn and invest responsibly.”
Robinhood was one of the biggest beneficiaries of the retail trade boom during the pandemic closures, which reached new heights last month with the craze around GameStop Corp. and other actions favored by the Reddit WallStreetBets forum. The company garnered about 20 million users late last year and executives have informed investors that Robinhood is planning an initial public offering during the first half of 2021, the Wall Street Journal previously reported.
But in the midst of Robinhood’s growth, the company sometimes didn’t prioritize things like customer service, communications, and risk management.