Borteanu v. Nikola Corp.

The federal district court for the District of Arizona granted in part and denied in part motions to dismiss investors’ lawsuit contending that Nikola and individual defendants misrepresented the company's business operations to inflate their stock value. The court found that the plaintiff sufficiently alleged that the company and some of the individual defendants made material misstatements in their Securities and Exchange Commission filings. The court also found that allegations regarding scienter and loss causation against the company and individual defendants were sufficient for a "maker liability" claim. In addition, a claim for "scheme liability" survived against the company and three individual defendants.

Investors filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Arizona, alleging that Nikola Corporation misrepresented numerous aspects of their business operations, inflating their stock value and ultimately causing significant damage to class members. Nikola Corporation designs and manufactures electric vehicles. The plaintiffs asserted that Nikola violated the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 by making numerous misrepresentations about their operations, including that they developed a “fully operational-emissions' tractor trailer truck powered by hydrogen fuel cell technology” and were “producing hydrogen at a fraction of the cost industry experts believed was possible.”