A major legal battle has erupted in the insurance industry, as DentaQuest National Insurance Company, Inc. and DentaQuest USA Insurance Company, Inc. have filed a lawsuit against CareSource Management Services LLC and Delta Dental Plan of Ohio, Inc. The complaint was filed on January 2, 2026, in the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. The plaintiffs accuse CareSource of improperly terminating their longstanding agreement and allege that Delta Dental tortiously interfered with this contract.
According to the complaint, DentaQuest claims that CareSource attempted to prematurely end their Delegated Services Agreement without any valid right to do so. This agreement, established in 2020, involved DentaQuest providing delegated dental administration services for CareSource’s members. However, CareSource allegedly conspired with Delta Dental to replace DentaQuest as its dental benefits administrator. The plaintiffs argue that this termination was orchestrated to coincide with Delta Dental’s assumption of these services and involved poaching a key employee from DentaQuest who managed proprietary services under the agreement.
DentaQuest further alleges that CareSource’s justification for terminating the agreement—citing material performance issues—was merely a pretext. They assert that during the period when these alleged issues occurred, CareSource continued to negotiate new rates and risk corridors with them and even accepted financial penalties imposed on DentaQuest for minor service-level deficiencies. Despite this ongoing relationship and compliance with contractual obligations, CareSource decided to terminate the agreement effective December 31, 2025.
The plaintiffs are seeking approximately $20 million in damages due to what they describe as bad faith conduct by CareSource and intentional interference by Delta Dental. They request a declaration from the court stating that CareSource’s termination was improper and ineffective. Additionally, they seek compensatory and punitive damages along with injunctive relief under the Ohio Uniform Trade Secrets Act due to concerns about potential misappropriation of trade secrets following Delta Dental’s hiring of a former DentaQuest employee.
Representing DentaQuest are attorneys James H. Greer, Matthew M. Suellentrop, Jaren A. Hardesty from Bieser, Greer & Landis LLP based in Dayton, Ohio; alongside Lawrence M. Kraus and Jamie Steven from Foley & Lardner LLP in Boston. The case is being heard under Case ID: 3:26-cv-00002-MJN-CHG by judges within the Southern District of Ohio.
Source: 326cv00002_DentaQuest_National_Insurance_Company_Inc_v_Caresource_Management_Services_LLC_Complaint_Southern_District_Ohio.pdf
