Tim Hortons billionaire co-founder loses bid to have sex-assault suit tossed
TORONTO — A woman’s lawsuit alleging that the billionaire co-founder of Tim Hortons sexually assaulted her at his home will have to be decided at a full-blown trial, Ontario’s top court ruled Friday.
Ron Joyce, 86, who has painted the woman with whom he had a one-time intimate relationship as a “pathological extortionist,” had wanted the Court of Appeal to find he had already paid his 36-year-old accuser to stop pushing the assault allegation before she sued him for $7.5 million in 2013.
While overturning a lower court finding that no settlement had occurred, the Appeal Court nevertheless said it was in no position to agree with him and toss the suit.
“A genuine issue requiring a trial exists as to whether the parties settled (the plaintiff’s) sexual assault claim,” the Appeal Court ruled.