Boardwalk Pub restaurateur George Foulidis must pay mayor and Bruce Baker $137,000, judge ruled Monday.
A judge has ordered Boardwalk Pub restaurateur George Foulidis to pay Mayor Rob Ford and a failed council candidate more than $160,000 in legal costs related to a failed $6-million libel suit.
Ontario Superior Court Justice John Macdonald, however, awarded Ford and Bruce Baker only the partial legal costs of $137,750 plus disbursements and HST. The pair had sought their full costs of more than $267,000.
Foulidis failed at trial, the judge earlier ruled, to prove his reputation was severely damaged by Ford’s published remarks, during the 2010 civic election campaign, about the no-bid 20-year contract city council awarded Tuggs Inc. for the exclusive right to sell food on city land in the Eastern Beaches.
Baker had sent city council a letter from another resident suggesting Foulidis used influence to secure the deal.
Foulidis said Monday night he had not heard of the cost settlement but noted he is appealing the judge’s ruling that he wasn’t libeled.
“I haven’t spoken to my lawyer so I can’t comment but it’s under appeal,” Foulidis said, adding he hopes the hearing will be heard this fall.
Gavin Tighe, the lawyer who represented Ford, said in an email: “The Mayor and Mr. Baker are grateful to have been fully vindicated in this matter and have the court award a meaningful amount for legal costs.”
Rob Ford wins partial costs in wake of failed libel suit | Toronto Star
A judge has ordered Boardwalk Pub restaurateur George Foulidis to pay Mayor Rob Ford and a failed council candidate more than $160,000 in legal costs related to a failed $6-million libel suit.
Ontario Superior Court Justice John Macdonald, however, awarded Ford and Bruce Baker only the partial legal costs of $137,750 plus disbursements and HST. The pair had sought their full costs of more than $267,000.
Foulidis failed at trial, the judge earlier ruled, to prove his reputation was severely damaged by Ford’s published remarks, during the 2010 civic election campaign, about the no-bid 20-year contract city council awarded Tuggs Inc. for the exclusive right to sell food on city land in the Eastern Beaches.
Baker had sent city council a letter from another resident suggesting Foulidis used influence to secure the deal.
Foulidis said Monday night he had not heard of the cost settlement but noted he is appealing the judge’s ruling that he wasn’t libeled.
“I haven’t spoken to my lawyer so I can’t comment but it’s under appeal,” Foulidis said, adding he hopes the hearing will be heard this fall.
Gavin Tighe, the lawyer who represented Ford, said in an email: “The Mayor and Mr. Baker are grateful to have been fully vindicated in this matter and have the court award a meaningful amount for legal costs.”
Rob Ford wins partial costs in wake of failed libel suit | Toronto Star
