Calpers challenges UnitedHealth pay

It's nice to see sanity finally getting a hearing in the case against UnitedHealth's outgoing-CEO William McGuire. The California Public Employees' Retirement System has filed a class action lawsuit against the healthcare company, asking a federal judge to freeze McGuire's retirement payments and any stock option payments he has already received. He's the guy who stands to collect as much as $1.1 billion in stock options, retirement pay and other benefits - much of that involving backdated options. The health-care company says it's in discussions with McGuire over terms of his departure on Dec. 1. Apparently, he has agreed to reprice options awarded to him over the 1994-2002 period to the yearly high price for the stock. McGuire, said Calpers in its filing, "was personally involved in nearly every aspect of the stock option backdating scheme." Calpers has already filed a securities lawsuit against the company.