The Tribune

A NEW York appeals court has ruled that a 2015 defamation lawsuit filed by billionaire Lyford Cay homeowner Louis Bacon against his neighbour, Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard, can be heard in the state.

The decision is another element in the long-running, bitter saga between the two over their neighbouring luxury properties in the affluent gated community.

In 2016, a lower court in New York had ruled against Mr Bacon’s case, finding the matter should be heard in The Bahamas where the dispute arose. That ruling was overturned yesterday, with judges in New York ruling Mr Bacon “would suffer hardship if required to litigate in The Bahamas, which has no jury trial right and no mechanism to obtain pre-trial deposition testimony from Bahamian witnesses.”

The court also found that only one of the defendants is a resident of the Bahamas, while all of the defendants have connections to New York.

“For example, Nygard owns an apartment here; Nygard Inc has its principal place of business here; and although defendants claim that Nygard International Partnership’s principal place of business is in Canada, its website identifies New York as its ‘world headquarters,’” the judges noted.

“Because defendants have a substantial presence in New York, as well as ‘ample resources,’ it would not be a hardship for them to litigate here.”

In his $100m lawsuit, Mr Bacon alleged the fashion designer organised rallies, marches and protests where he was defamed, created and distributed defamatory T-shirts and signs, published defamatory accusations about him and used websites to defame him.

Mr Nygard subsequently filed a $50 million countersuit in April 2016 accusing Mr Bacon of a “vendetta” against him, including harassment and frivolous litigation.

Each man has denied the other’s allegations.

In a statement issued to Bloomberg yesterday, Mr Bacon said he is gratified that his case can proceed in New York.

Aaron Marks, an attorney for Nygard who previously called the suit “frivolous,” declined to comment when contacted by the Bloomberg news agency.