Quebec billionaire Eddy Savoie ends long legal battle by paying up

Residences Soleil founder Eddy Savoie told a courtroom Monday that his personal worth is $1.5 billion. (Image: residencessoleil.ca)

A Quebec retirement housing magnate has thrown in the towel after a lengthy legal battle against a woman who criticized his Residences Soleil chain.

Eddy Savoie accepted defeat Friday by sending a certified cheque for $310,000 to Pierrette Thériault-Martel, a woman whose mother lived in one of the Groupe Savoie institutions.

Thériault-Martel criticized the care her mother received in one of Savoie’s longterm care homes in Saint-Lambert sur le Golf.

Savoie sued her for defamation in 2011, demanding $400,000. The woman had an annual income of $12,000 at the time.

A judge deemed the suit abusive and ordered Savoie to pay her $10,000 in moral damages, $200,000 in punitive damages and $ 90,000 for legal fees.

Savoie’s attempt to appeal the verdict was rejected earlier this week.

His next step would have been to attempt to bring the case to the Supreme Court.

-With a file from The Canadian Press

Court judgment in Eddy Savoie case