The parents of Alex Kearns, a 20-year-old who committed suicide last June, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against stock trading app Robinhood on Monday.
Kearns’ parents accuse Robinhood of targeting younger customers who have little experience and for promoting risky trading and negligent infliction of emotional distress, according to CBS This Morning.
20-year-old Alex Kearns took his own life last year when he believed he’d racked up massive losses on stock trading app Robinhood.@tonydokoupil investigates the popular app and spoke with Alex’s parents, who blame Robinhood for their son’s death. pic.twitter.com/MyU5EbyfQy
— CBS This Morning (@CBSThisMorning) February 8, 2021
Alex’s parents say they knew of his trading on Robinhood, but they reportedly did not know Alex was approved to trade options, a far more complicated and high-risk form of trading. (RELATED: Robinhood Is Facing 30 Lawsuits. Is The App In Trouble?)
Robinhood restricted Alex’s account June 11 after what appeared to be a negative account balance of $730,000. The company later sent Alex an email requiring “immediate action” and requesting over $170,000 in a matter of days.
“He thought he blew up his life. He thought he screwed up beyond repair,” Alex’s dad Dan Kearns said, according to CBS This Morning.
Alex then attempted to reach out to Robinhood three different times between that night and the next morning. The next day, Alex’s parents were told by the sheriff that Alex was dead. Robinhood sent an email a day later saying that Alex’s trades had been resolved and he didn’t owe any money.
“The information they gave him was just incredibly skewed. And possibly completely wrong, because they make it look like you owe $730,000 when you really don’t owe anything,” said the Kearns’ family attorney, Benjamin Blakeman, according to CBS This Morning. “That could panic just about anybody.”
Robinhood has faced increased scrutiny recently after limiting trading for a number of different stocks.