On Friday, United Continental Holdings released a statement that its newly-appointed CEO Oscar Munoz was hospitalized the day before—from an apparent heart attack, according to media reports—and since then the company has provided very little information about his condition.
On Monday, Henry Meyer III, the non-executive chairman of the board, issued a statement that United “anticipates it will today conclude the corporate governance process necessitated by the hospitalization of President and CEO, Oscar Munoz. The company expects to release more details either later today or tomorrow.”
The airline’s silence on Munoz’s condition is raising questions about corporate governance and what United needs to disclose about the situation. When Jamie Dimon announced his cancer diagnosis in July 2014, Fortune reported that there is no overarching standard on how to handle an executive’s health, but in general, board of directors and CEOs are adhering to a more liberal interpretation of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rule that requires companies to publicly disclose material information about a CEO (i.e. anything that would influence an investor’s decision to buy or sell securities) in what’s become known as the “post-Jobs era.”
When the late Apple CEO Steve Jobs was diagnosed with cancer and received a liver transplant, Apple’s mishandling of his sickness became the standard of what not to do when a CEO falls ill. The company never fully informed investors about Job’s failing health, even as the Apple founder became noticeably thin and took leaves of absence. The SEC later investigated whether the company had misled investors.
United did not immediately return Fortune‘s request for comment.
Munoz’s hospitalization came a little more than a month after he was appointed president and chief executive officer following the abrupt ouster of Jeff Smisek amid an investigation over his dealings with a New York area transit official.
United is the world’s second-largest airline by traffic and is due to report its third-quarter 2015 financial results on Thursday, Oct. 22.
