Nikola founder Trevor Milton has sued a Utah businessman for defamation, accusing him of a "malicious marketing campaign to harass" and discredit t
Nikola founder Trevor Milton has sued a Utah businessman for defamation, accusing him of a “malicious marketing campaign to harass” and discredit the billionaire by publicly accusing him over Twitter of sexually abusing ladies, in keeping with the lawsuit filed this week.
David Bateman, founder and CEO of software program firm Entrata, began tweeting about Milton in late September, posting screenshots of conversations he allegedly had with ladies who stated Milton tried to sexually assault them or propositioned them for intercourse with different males. In some circumstances, Bateman posted screenshots from ladies of conversations that they had with Milton. One confirmed Milton allegedly providing to pay a girl $2,000 to “hook up” with a man in Las Vegas if he may select the person.
The nine-page lawsuit filed Monday in Utah federal court docket says Bateman “engaged in a malicious marketing campaign to harass and defame Mr. Milton, utilizing Bateman’s Twitter account to publish a sequence of false accusations in opposition to Plaintiff.”
Milton’s lawsuit would not problem the authenticity of no less than a number of the screenshots Bateman tweeted. It says that Bateman printed “personal info” but it surely was offered “in a deceptive gentle.”
“Bateman has stooped to the extent of approaching ladies Plaintiff had identified earlier in his life, previous to his marriage, and asking them to ship screenshots of their personal texts with Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states. “Bateman then printed excerpts of these texts on Twitter and different on-line platforms in an effort to current Plaintiff in a deceptive and unflattering method.”
It additionally says that Bateman insinuated, “outrageously,” that Milton tried to site visitors ladies.
The lawsuit was filed two weeks after Milton resigned as govt chairman of Nikola amid fraud allegations by a brief promoting agency and days after Bateman began tweeting in regards to the screenshots.
Since then, two ladies have filed sexual abuse complaints with Utah authorities in opposition to Milton. Each allegations had been greater than 15 years outdated however individually concerned Milton’s cousin and an workplace assistant. Each incidents allegedly occurred when the ladies had been 15 years outdated.
By means of a spokesman, Milton “strongly denied” the accusations of the ladies.
Bateman stated he plans to combat the lawsuit, saying the whole lot he posted was correct.
“It is clearly true, the issues that I despatched. He is confirmed it. I’ll proceed defending these ladies and he is not going to intimidate me,” Bateman stated in an interview.
A request for remark from Milton’s attorneys wasn’t instantly returned.
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