Milton - Bateman Complaint
Milton - Bateman Complaint
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Terence Healy*
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
One Battery Park Plaza
New York, NY 10004
Telephone: (202) 721-4600
Fax: (202) 721-4646
Email: [email protected]
*pro have vice application forthcoming
Defendant.
Plaintiff Trevor Milton, by and through counsel, brings this action against Defendant
NATURE OF ACTION
1. This is an action for defamation per se and for publicly disclosing private facts.
Defendant Bateman has engaged in a malevolent practice of publishing outrageous and false
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allegations against Plaintiff, including that he was involved in sex trafficking and has assaulted
numerous unnamed women. Bateman has falsely portrayed Trevor Milton to the public, through
the use of Twitter and other social media platforms, as some type of serial sex offender and even
implies he was somehow partly responsible for the suicide death of one of Bateman’s friends.
prominently identifies himself as the CEO of Entrata, Inc. (“Entrata”). When pressed by one
online commenter for the basis of an allegation that Plaintiff had ten years earlier sexually
assaulted an undisclosed woman, Bateman had the audacity to respond merely, “Me. I’m the
CEO of a company with 2200 employees. I wouldn’t be making this up.” Such is the depth of
3. In his effort to defame Plaintiff and portray him falsely in the eyes of the public,
Bateman has stooped to the level of approaching women Plaintiff had known earlier in his life,
prior to his marriage, and asking them to send screenshots of their private texts with Plaintiff.
Bateman then published excerpts of those texts on Twitter and other online platforms in an effort
Plaintiff, were all made while he held himself out as the CEO of Entrata, with Bateman even
relying on his position at the company to give “authority” to his outlandish accusations. The
board of directors of that company failed to take any actions to curb Bateman’s repeated tortious
conduct.
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THE PARTIES
7. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1332(a) because
Plaintiff is a citizen of Wyoming and Defendant is a citizen of Utah, and the amount in
has had substantial, deliberate, and systematic contacts with this District, and Plaintiff suffered
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS
Mr. Milton, using Bateman’s Twitter account to publish a series of false accusations against
Plaintiff. In addition to these false accusations, Bateman also has published private information
about Plaintiff—in a misleading light—on his Twitter account, which is publicly available
worldwide and boasts approximately 2000 “followers” or audience members. That information,
in turn, was retweeted by Twitter users to countless thousands of others and reported in the
10. On September 19, 2020, Bateman sent off a barrage of tweets and replies in
about an individual named Jonny Robb (“Robb”). From 2:56AM until 5:15AM, Bateman sent
approximately ten tweets related to Jonny Robb and Plaintiff. Identifying Plaintiff Milton by
tagging his twitter handle, @nikolatrevor, Bateman shared several screenshots of a private
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conversation allegedly between Plaintiff and another individual. In his first reply at 2:56AM,
Bateman stated he was posting the screenshots, “Because my dear friend Jonny isn’t here to
defend himself.” Bateman went on to say, “I would have never shared these but you forced my
11. Robb was a Utah resident and acquaintance of Plaintiff. On April 15, 2020, Robb
was arrested and charged with a felony for trying to extort Plaintiff. Robb told Plaintiff that if he
did not pay him $500,000, he would publish damaging information about him on Instagram. As
he was being handcuffed by the police, Robb said to the arresting officers, “This is what happens
12. At one point, Plaintiff was forced to seek a civil restraining order to protect
13. Robb sadly suffered from a history of mental illness and addiction—once
describing himself to be “Jesus Christ” and “immortal.” While awaiting trial on the charge of
14. Bateman, who described Robb as a “dear friend,” has sought to use the tragedy of
his suicide as an additional means of attacking Plaintiff. Bateman posted online that Robb “lost
15. Ironically, it appears—from Robb’s own words—that the private texts Robb used
to try to extort Plaintiff came from Bateman and were given by him to Robb—presumably for the
very purpose Robb put them to use: to try to blackmail and damage Plaintiff.
16. At 4:56AM on September 19, 2020, Bateman tweeted another reply directly
Specifically, Bateman tweeted, “The entire week Jonny was interacting with Trevor Milton he
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was in Cali with a friend who saw and heard everything. He’s ready to come forward. More
women will likely come forward with Milton’s attempts to traffic them.”
17. Bateman continued his tirade against Plaintiff on September 21, 2020. Beginning
at 12:03AM that day, Bateman issued a series of tweets and responses regarding an allegation by
“another woman” directly accusing Plaintiff of sexual assault when she was 18 years old.
Specifically, his first tweet stated, “Another woman came forward accusing @nikolatrevor of
groping her when she was 18 years old in 2011. While on a work trip, Milton allegedly climbed
into bed and groped her against her will. I believe her. She gave me this message: ‘I should have
just cuddled at the most’ [Face vomiting emoji]”. Notably, when asked for a source for his
12:03AM tweet, Bateman replied, “Me. I’m the CEO of a company with 2200 employees. I
18. Bateman is not the only person associated with Entrata who has used social media
to attack and defame Plaintiff. A now-former Senior Vice President of Entrata took to Facebook
to give support to an allegation that Plaintiff had twenty years earlier fondled a young woman
when both of them were teenagers. Of course, this former Entrata employee had no actual
19. At 3:47AM on September 21, 2020, Bateman tweeted, “These were received by
the 18-year old model from @nikolatrevor years later with another attempt to lure her
#NikolaGate #Nikola”. Attached to the tweet were four screenshots of a private conversation that
Bateman alleged took place between Plaintiff and an 18-year old woman.
20. Bateman’s attacks against Plaintiff have not been limited to online posts, calling
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21. Bateman continues to maintain his defamatory posts against Plaintiff online, thus
causing ongoing and continuous damage to Plaintiff from this tortious conduct.
Count 1
(Defamation Per Se)
23. Defendant has published various statements about Plaintiff that are false and
women; and
24. These statements are false and defamatory per se, since they are of such common
notoriety that their injurious character may be presumed from the words alone, and because they
allege conduct that is criminal and of the type meriting the highest condemnation from the
public.
25. As a direct result of Defendant’s conduct, Plaintiff and his reputation was
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26. Defendant’s conduct was intentional or was reckless, and Plaintiff is also entitled
Count 2
(Public Disclosure of Private Facts)
28. Defendant’s statements about Plaintiff were published without his consent or
authorization, and the statements were not subject to any claim of waiver or privilege.
29. The published statements concerned matters private to Plaintiff and involved
30. The statements were published with knowledge that or with reckless disregard as
to whether they would bring shame and humiliation to Plaintiff, and the statements did in fact
bring shame and/or humiliation to Plaintiff. Defendant acted out of malice and in bad faith.
be determined at trial.
Plaintiff Trever Milton respectfully requests that the Court enter a judgment in his favor
and against David Bateman, and award him the following relief:
A. A judgment against Bateman for compensatory and punitive damages, and all other
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Terence Healy*
HUGHES HUBBARD & REED LLP
One Battery Park Plaza
New York, NY 10004
Telephone: (202) 721-4600
Fax: (202) 721-4646
Email: [email protected]
*pro hac vice motion forthcoming
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