The Wendy Horton lawsuit is a federal racketeering and retaliation case filed in October 2025 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia, naming the former University of Virginia Medical Center CEO alongside other former UVA Health leaders. Four UVA physicians accuse Horton and her colleagues of running a revenue-first scheme that compromised patient safety and punished doctors who spoke up. In June 2026, Judge Norman K. Moon dismissed the core RICO claims and most retaliation claims against Horton without prejudice, giving plaintiffs a chance to refile an amended complaint.
What the Lawsuit Accuses Horton of Doing
The 105-page complaint, Schumann, et al. v. Kent, et al., Case No. 3:25-cv-00083-NKM, groups Horton with former UVA Health CEO K. Craig Kent, former School of Medicine Dean Melina Kibbe, and current surgical chair Allan Tsung as “Medical Leader Defendants.”1Cavalier Daily. Lawsuit Says Craig Kent, Melina Kibbe Led Hostile Takeover of UVA Health Plaintiffs allege these four coordinated an operation they call the “Kent Enterprise.”
According to the complaint, the enterprise accepted all hospital patient transfers regardless of available capacity, continued elective surgeries through the COVID-19 pandemic to keep revenue flowing, and over-staffed surgeries to bill patients and Medicare at higher rates. Leadership allegedly used fraudulent billing modifier codes and pressured physicians to falsify operative reports.1Cavalier Daily. Lawsuit Says Craig Kent, Melina Kibbe Led Hostile Takeover of UVA Health
Horton’s tie to the alleged scheme runs through her position. She served as CEO of the University Medical Center from 2020 to 2025, overseeing a facility with roughly 700 beds and about 9,000 employees. The complaint alleges she was appointed without faculty consultation and that Horton, Kent, and Kibbe had previously worked together at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center before all three moved to UVA.2Cavalier Daily. Report on UVA Health Details Alleged Misconduct Under Kent and Kibbe’s Leadership
Horton is credited elsewhere with leading UVA Medical Center through the pandemic staffing crisis and implementing a strategic plan that generated a reported $60 million increase in yearly net operating revenue.3Virginia Business. UVA Health University Medical Center CEO to Depart The lawsuit frames those same financial gains as the product of an enterprise that cut corners on safety and silenced internal critics.
The complaint invokes the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, the False Claims Act, the Virginia Fraud Against Taxpayers Act, the Virginia Fraud and Abuse Whistleblower Protection Act, and state defamation law.1Cavalier Daily. Lawsuit Says Craig Kent, Melina Kibbe Led Hostile Takeover of UVA Health In their joint motion to dismiss filed January 9, 2026, Horton, Kent, Kibbe, and Tsung denied all allegations and called the suit “at best, an aspirational medical malpractice and employment lawsuit dressed up as a RICO action.”2Cavalier Daily. Report on UVA Health Details Alleged Misconduct Under Kent and Kibbe’s Leadership
What the Physician Plaintiffs Say Happened
Four UVA Health surgeons brought the case, each alleging retaliation after raising concerns about safety, billing, or hiring:
- Dr. Jeffrey Young, an acute care and trauma surgeon, was removed as Division Chief of Acute Care Surgery and as Trauma Director, saw his pay reduced, and says he was forced out of UVA after thirty years.
- Dr. Kenan Yount, a cardiothoracic surgeon, alleges he refused to falsify operative reports and was then denied a promotion, stripped of clinical job titles, bypassed for surgical scheduling, and eventually left Charlottesville.
- Dr. Mark Roeser, a cardiac surgeon, alleges he was denied tenure, compelled to attend therapy sessions at his own expense, subjected to false safety reports, forced to abandon federally funded research, and driven out of the area.
- Dr. John Kern, a cardiothoracic surgeon, says he exposed fraudulent billing modifier schemes and was removed as co-director of the Heart and Vascular Service Line, stripped of administrative duties, and excluded from clinical scheduling and decision-making.
All four allege witness tampering and obstruction meant to prevent them from contacting law enforcement and regulators.4Squarespace (Complaint Document). Plaintiffs’ Complaint for Damages and Equitable Relief The complaint also describes an internal safety reporting system called “Be Safe” and a set of institutional values called “ASPIRE” being used as pretexts for disciplining dissenters.
How the Case Reached Federal Court
Concerns about Kent’s leadership surfaced early. According to the complaint, Dr. Chris Ghaemmaghami warned UVA President Jim Ryan in April 2020 about a “culture of fear.” By fall 2021, the UVA Physicians Group drafted a first letter of no confidence.5Jefferson Council. What UVA Leadership Knew — and When
On September 5, 2024, 128 UVA Physicians Group faculty members signed a formal no-confidence letter directed at the Board of Visitors, citing “compromised patient safety” and a “culture of fear and retaliation” and calling for the removal of Kent and Kibbe.6Virginia Business. UVA Health Faculty Letter Ryan initially dismissed the concerns and, per the Jefferson Council’s account, “severely chastised” the letter’s authors, later retracting that response in April 2025.7Jefferson Council. Jefferson Council FOIA Investigation
The Board of Visitors hired Williams & Connolly to conduct an external review. The firm delivered its report on February 25, 2025, during a special meeting convened by then-Rector Robert Hardie. Kent resigned the same day. The report has never been released publicly; UVA denied a Freedom of Information Act request, citing attorney-client privilege and personnel protections.829 News. Former Top UVA Health Officials Seek Dismissal of Lawsuit
Horton’s Departure From UVA
Horton left UVA in September 2025 for UCSF Health, where she is Senior Vice President and President of Adult Services. UVA Health confirmed her departure only after a media inquiry.9Cavalier Daily. Two Senior UVA Health Leaders Quietly Take New Jobs Without Formal Announcement University of California Board of Regents documents show the position carries a base salary of $1,050,000 with eligibility for incentive awards and an estimated start date of September 1, 2025.10University of California Regents. Health Services Committee Appointment Materials
Kibbe left the same month to become president of the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.9Cavalier Daily. Two Senior UVA Health Leaders Quietly Take New Jobs Without Formal Announcement Mitchell Rosner was named CEO of UVA Health on September 12, 2025, for a three-year term. The federal complaint followed three weeks later.
Where the Case Stands
Before the dismissal hearing, the two widow plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed their federal claims to pursue separate negligent-hiring complaints in state court, leaving the four physician plaintiffs in the federal case.1129 News. Judge Hears Arguments on Motions to Dismiss Federal Lawsuit Against Former Top UVA Health Officials
Attorneys for Horton and the other Medical Leader Defendants argued in their January 9, 2026 motion that plaintiffs had not adequately alleged a RICO enterprise distinct from the individual defendants, that the fraud claims lacked the specificity required under federal rules, and that the case was really about employment disputes and medical malpractice. They also raised sovereign immunity, qualified immunity, and standing challenges.12U.S. District Court, W.D. Va. Kent, Kibbe, Horton, and Cruz Motion to Dismiss
Judge Norman K. Moon held a three-hour hearing on May 6, 2026, and issued his memorandum opinion on June 2, 2026. He granted the motions to dismiss in part. The RICO and RICO conspiracy claims were dismissed without prejudice for lack of statutory standing. Retaliation claims under the False Claims Act and Virginia’s fraud statutes were narrowed further: Dr. Roeser’s claims were dismissed for insufficient allegations of protected activity, and the claims by the other three physicians against individual supervisors, including Horton, were dismissed because those statutes do not permit recovery against supervisors in their individual capacities.13Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Memorandum Opinion and Order, Schumann v. Kent
The dismissals were without prejudice. Judge Moon ordered plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint by June 15, 2026, with defendants’ responses due by July 1, 2026. The court vacated the pretrial order and jury trial setting pending further proceedings and deferred ruling on the university’s sovereign immunity arguments so they could be reasserted after the amended complaint.13Virginia Lawyers Weekly. Memorandum Opinion and Order, Schumann v. Kent
Kent’s Separate Defamation Case
In late February 2026, Craig Kent filed a $34 million defamation suit in Albemarle County Circuit Court against the plaintiffs’ attorneys, alleging they orchestrated a campaign to force him out of UVA and then profit from the litigation.14Virginia Business. Former UVA Health CEO Sues Attorneys, Firm in $34M Defamation Case Horton is not a party to that case.