Businessman Kevin O’Leary ordered to pay legal fees to philanthropic group
HALIFAX — Celebrity businessman Kevin O’Leary has been ordered to pay legal fees to a philanthropic organization that is suing him over allegations he backed out of a speaking engagement and cost the group more than $25,000.
The decision, handed down Wednesday by Nova Scotia Supreme Court Judge Mona Lynch, rejects O’Leary’s attempt to dismiss the suit or move it to another jurisdiction, and awarded $3,500 in costs to the Canadian Lebanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The chamber had been seeking $12,000 in costs, while O’Leary suggested legal costs of $1,000 after failing to have the suit dismissed after a half-day hearing last Dec. 7.
In her analysis, Lynch said she was made to consider facts around the wealth of O’Leary, the brash star of the ABC show “Shark Tank” and former panellist on CBC’s “Dragon’s Den.”