Business
Nickel 28 Directors Secure Dismissal of Actions Brought Against Them by Former Executives Justin Cochrane & Conor Kearns in Court
Toronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 21, 2026) - Further to the May 16, 2025 press release...
About this update from Nickel 28 Capital Corp
[{"type":"text","content":"Nickel 28 Directors Secure Dismissal of Actions Brought Against Them by Former Executives Justin Cochrane & Conor Kearns in CourtToronto, Ontario--(Newsfile Corp. - January 21, 2026) - Further to the May 16, 2025 press release of Nickel 28 Capital Corp. (TSXV: NKL) (FSE: 3JC0) (\"Nickel 28\" or the \"Company\"), the Company announces today that two of its board members, Brett Richards and Edward Collery, were entirely successful in striking the lawsuits brought against them by former executives Justin Cochrane and Conor Kearns.On November 3, 2025, Messrs. Collery and Richards brought parallel motions to strike the claims against them on the basis that the claims do not disclose any reasonable cause of action against them personally. In a decision dated December 5, 2025 (2025 ONSC 6742), Justice Merritt of the Superior Court of Justice granted the motions brought by each of Collery and Richards, and dismissed Cochrane's and Kearns' actions against them entirely. In a separate decision released on January 15, 2026, the Court has also awarded costs to each of Collery and Richards as the successful parties on their motions to strike.In arriving at its decision, the Court concluded that Cochrane and Kearns did not plead the material facts required to support their lawsuit against Messrs. Richards or Collery, personally. The Court further denied a request from Messrs. Cochrane and Kearns to amend their claims against Messrs. Richards and Collery, finding that there was no conduct that could be pleaded that would support a lawsuit against the Nickel board members, and that Cochrane's and Kearns' own claims contained \"allegations that would be completely inconsistent with many of the facts that would be required to support claims against [Collery and Richards].\" As previously disclosed, the Company terminated each of Messrs. Cochrane's and Kearns' employment for cause on May 3, 2024, as a result of findings of serious misconduct made by an independent special committee of the Company's board of directors. The misconduct findings included involvement in trades that violated the Company's policies, self-dealing that resulted in, amongst other things, Messrs. Cochrane and Kearns facilitating grossly excessive compensation payments to themselves and others, awards of securities to themselves and others in breach of the Company's...