Item 3. Legal Proceedings
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
We are subject to the legal
proceedings and claims discussed below as well as certain other legal proceedings and claims that have not been fully resolved and that
have arisen in the ordinary course of business. Our management evaluates our exposure to these claims and proceedings individually and
in the aggregate and evaluates potential losses on such litigation if the amount of the loss is estimable and the loss is probable. However,
the outcome of legal proceedings and claims brought against the Company is subject to significant uncertainty. Although management considers
the likelihood of such an outcome to be remote, if one or more of these legal matters were resolved against the Company for amounts in
excess of management’s expectations, the Company’s financial statements for that reporting period could be materially adversely
affected. The Company settled certain matters subsequent to year end that did not individually or in the aggregate, have a material impact
on the Company’s financial condition or operating results.
In 2017, the Company’s
former COO was awarded approximately $238,000 in accrued salary and related charges by the California labor board. In August 2021, the
Company reached a settlement by which the Company agreed to pay approximately $330,000, representing the principal award plus accrued
interest. As of the time of this filing, the Company has paid approximately $271,600 toward the settlement amount. The remaining balance
of approximately $58,400 is to be paid no later than September 1, 2023 and accrues interest of 10% per annum until paid.
Between July 2017 and March
2022, the Company was engaged in litigation with a former director, Robert Kopple, relating to more than $13 million and the current
equivalent of the approximately 23 million warrants, exercisable for seven years at a price of $0.10 per share, which Mr. Kopple and
his affiliated entities (collectively the “Kopple Parties”) claimed should have been originally issued to them pursuant to
various agreements with the Company entered to between 2013-2016. In March 2022, the Company reached a settlement with the Kopple Parties
that resolved all claims asserted against the Company without any admission, concession or finding of any fault, liability or wrongdoing
on the part of the Company. Under the terms of the settlement, the Company agreed to pay an aggregate amount of $10 million over a period
of seven years, including $3 million initial payment to be paid in June 2022. $150 was paid in June 2022, and the balance of the initial
payment of $2.85 million was extended to May 29, 2023, In exchange for the extension, the Company was required to pay $165,000 in extension
and forbearance fees in cash and $430,000 in accrued forbearance fees. Beginning in January 2023, interest accrues on the unpaid balance
at a rate of 6%, compounded annually. All amounts, including all accrued interest and deferred fees, are to be paid no later than eight
years from the date of the initial payment. The Kopple Parties have also received seven-year warrants to purchase up to an aggregate
of approximately 3.3 million shares of our common stock at a price of $0.85 per share. The settlement also provides for standard mutual
general release provisions and includes customary representations, warranties, and covenants, including certain increases in the amount
payable to the Kopple Parties and the right of such parties to enter judgment against the Company if the Company remains in uncured default
in its payment obligations under the settlement. As of the date of this report, the Company has not yet paid the full $3,000,000 installment
due to Kopple, having made an initial payment of $150,000 in June 2022. (See Part IV, Item 15, Note 9 and Note 17 to the Financial Statements).
23
On March 26, 2019, various
stockholders of the Company controlling a combined total of more than 27.5 million shares delivered a signed written consent to the Company
removing Ronald Buschur as a member of the Company’s Board and electing Cipora Lavut as a director of the Company. On March
27, 2019, those same stockholders delivered a further signed written consent to the Company removing William Anderson and Si Ryong Yu
as members of the Company’s Board and electing Robert Lempert and David Mann as directors of the Company. These written consents
represented a majority of the outstanding shares of the Company’s common stock as of March 26, 2019, and March 27, 2019,
respectively. Because of Aura’s refusal to recognize the legal effectiveness of the consents, on April 8, 2019, the stockholders
filed suit in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware pursuant to Section 225 of the Delaware General Corporations Law, seeking
an order confirming the validity of the consents and declaring that Aura’s Board consists of Ms. Lavut, Mr. Mann, Dr. Lempert,
Mr. Douglas and Mr. Diaz-Versón, Jr. On July 8, 2019 the Court of Chancery entered final judgment in favor of the
stockholder plaintiffs, confirming that (a) Ronald Buschur, Si Ryong Yu and William Anderson had been validly removed by the holders of
a majority of the Company’s outstanding stock acting by written consent (b) Ms. Lavut, Mr. Mann and Dr. Lempert had been validly
elected by the holders of a majority of the Company’s outstanding stock acting by written consent, and (c) the Company’s Board
of Directors validly consists of Cipora Lavut, David Mann, Robert Lempert, Gary Douglas and Salvador Diaz-Versón, Jr. As a result
of prior management’s unsuccessful opposition to this stockholders’ action filed in the Court of Chancery, such stockholders
may be potentially entitled to recoup their litigation costs from the Company under Delaware’s corporate benefit doctrine and/or
other legal provisions. To date, no final determination has been made as to the amount of recoupment, if any, to which such stockholders
may be entitled.
In
June 2022, Melvin Gagerman, the Company’s former CEO and CFO whose employment with Aura was permanently terminated in July 2019,
brought suit against the Company for repayment of an allegedly unsecured demand promissory note in the principal amount of $82,000 which
he claims was entered into in April 2014 and bears interest at a rate of 10% per annum. Despite the fact that, based on Gagerman’s
allegations, the note was issued during a period when he was the Company’s CEO, CFO, Corporate Secretary and Chairman of Aura’s
Board of Directors, Gagerman has stated that he does not possess a copy of the alleged promissory note. The Company disputes that any
amount is presently owed to Gagerman and has filed a cross-complaint against him for, among things, conversion, violation of California
Business& Professions Code §17200, and various breaches of fiduciary duty that the Company believes Gagerman committed against
Aura, including without limitation, Gagerman’s actions in opposing the valid 2019 stockholder consent action.
ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES
Not applicable.
24
PART II
Text extracted from the filing as submitted to EDGAR. Formatting, tables and exhibits are simplified for reading; the original document is authoritative for anything you rely on.