Foulidis v Ford to hit the courts
It’s been about a year-and-a-half since Boardwalk Pub owner George Foulidis filed a multi-million dollar defamation suit against mayor Rob Ford. Now, Foulidis is looking forward to having his day in court.
In Oct. 2010, Foulidis filed a $6 million defamation lawsuit against then mayoral candidate Rob Ford for statements he made on a radio program regarding how business was conducted at city hall in the approval of a 20-year exlusive contract to Foulidis’ company Tuggs Inc. to operate the Boardwalk Pub and for the sale of food, alcohol and merchandise throughout Woodbine Beach and Ashbridges Bay Park. Reached by phone just after the Easter weekend, Foulidis said the court proceedings are scheduled to begin in late May.
Ford’s original statement of defence, filed in December 2010 alleged Foulidis’ legal action was politically motivated.
“Rob (Ford) pleads that this action … is a SLAPP (strategic litigation against public participation) lawsuit that has been brought merely for the purposes of stifling public debate on a public issue, restricting freedom of speech and the free exchange of opinions,” it read.
Foulidis is standing his ground, and says there is nothing frivolous about what he did, and was only defending himself after being attacked.
“Somebody’s got to apologize or do something,” he said. “I did nothing wrong, I did everything by the law. At this point, I can’t just back off what I started, and they won’t concede to anything, so I guess it’s going to be a contest at some point.”
Ford’s lawyer, Gavin Tighe, didn’t comment on the case itself, but did say it had yet to reach court.
