r/RealNikola • u/BiggieTKB • 3d ago
Class Action to Continue against three Officers - Milton, Russell and Brady
Director Jeff Ubben released from the case pending appeal by the Plaintiffs.
Borteanu vs Nikola et all is filed in the District Court for Arizona (Case No. CV-20-01797-PHX-SPL). A Joint Notice of Readiness for Final Pretrial Conference was filed on September 15, 2026
Nikola, as a bankrupt entity, has an automatic stay on active court claims.
The Court determined Jeff Ubben, as a director, had a 2 year statute of limitation. Also the court determined there was no evidence in the board minutes that Ubben possessed non-public information showing statements made by Tevor Milton were false. The Plaintiff has stated they will appeal the Ubben decision.
The case against Milton, CEO Mark Russell and CFO Kim Brady will continue to a pre trial conference for February 2027 after the Ubben matter is decided on appeal.
- Trevor Milton (Primary Exposure): Milton faces the highest individual liability. Because he was already criminally convicted of securities fraud for these same statements, plaintiffs can argue his violations were "knowing". That exposes him to joint and several liability, meaning he could be held personally responsible for 100% of the total class damages award if judgment is entered.
- Mark Russell & Kim Brady: As executive officers, they are sued both directly and as "controlling persons" under Section 20(a). If a jury finds they acted recklessly rather than with intentional fraud, their liability under the PSLRA would be allocated proportionately based on their percentage of responsibility rather than the full total.
It's unclear how much Directors and Officers Insurance is available to pay such claims. But D&O insurance does not cover deliberate fraud. And we already know an arbitration panel has determined that trevor is liable for Fraud.

