Anthony Morgan has filed a derivative lawsuit against several current and former officers and directors of Lincoln National Corporation, alleging breaches of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment. The complaint was filed on December 30, 2024, in the Court of Common Pleas of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. The defendants include Ellen G. Cooper, Deirdre P. Connelly, William H. Cunningham, Reginald Davis, Eric C. Johnson, Gary C. Kelly, M. Leanne Lachman, Dale Lefebvre, Janet Liang, Lynn Utter, Dennis Glass, and Randal Freitag.
The case centers around alleged mismanagement and misleading statements by Lincoln National's leadership regarding the company's financial health and business operations. Anthony Morgan claims that since at least November 2020, the defendants made materially false or misleading statements about the company's business prospects and failed to disclose adverse facts about its operations. Specifically, Morgan accuses the defendants of overstating goodwill associated with Lincoln's life insurance business and misstating financial results due to outdated policy lapse assumptions.
Morgan points to a significant drop in Lincoln's stock price following the release of third-quarter 2022 financial results as evidence of the impact of these alleged misstatements. On November 2, 2022, Lincoln reported a net loss of $2.6 billion for the quarter compared to a net income of $318 million for the same period in 2021. This announcement led to a dramatic decline in stock value by over 33%. The plaintiff alleges that this loss was primarily due to updated assumptions related to guaranteed universal life insurance policies and an impairment charge on goodwill.
The lawsuit seeks several forms of relief from the court: damages sustained by Lincoln National due to the alleged breaches of fiduciary duties; reforms in corporate governance practices; restitution from individual defendants; disgorgement of profits obtained through wrongful conduct; and coverage for legal costs incurred during litigation.
Representing Anthony Morgan are attorneys James M. Ficaro and John J. Gross from The Weiser Law Firm P.C., along with Richard A. Maniskas from RM Law P.C.. The case is presided over by judges at the Court of Common Pleas in Delaware County under Case ID No.CV2024011319.