Illinois Family Sues Robinhood After Son Commits Suicide Believing He Owed $730K
Amid the last few weeks of scrutiny in the wake of January’s Reddit investor-fueled GameStop controversy, the stock-trading app Robinhood is back in headlines; this as a Naperville, Illinois family sues the company after their 20-year-old son, who’d been using the app since a teen, committed suicide, believing he owed $730,000.
Last June, Alex Kearns died by suicide after Robinhood allegedly led him to believe that he owed nearly $750K after making some risky stock trades. On Monday (Feb. 8), Kearns’ parents, Dan and Dorothy Kearns, filed a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing the company of negligent infliction of emotional distress and unfair business practices.
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Despite the company’s mission claiming they stand up for the little guy and “democratize finance,” the Kearns claim Robinhood targeted young and inexperienced customers, and pushed them to engage in risky trading practices, and when things go south, they provide “no meaningful customer support.”
The complaint reads, “Though Alex’s panic and confusion were clearly caused by Robinhood’s misleading communications, Robinhood was impossible to reach at the most critical moment to repair the damage it created.” In it, it further says that the lack of communication on the company’s part “resulted in a highly distressed mental condition” that led to the death of Kearns.
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