Adam Jackson
An escalating legal dispute between FSD Pharma Inc. (NASDAQ: HUGE) and its former CEO Raza Bokhari has entered a new phase.
On one hand, FSD Pharma has recently been awarded $2.81 million in cost awards against Bokhari following a wrongful dismissal arbitration. On the other hand, Bokhari’s attorneys have filed two new claims against his former employer, alleging breach of contract and other tortious acts.
The cost award, granted by Justice J. Douglas Cunningham, was related to Bokhari’s wrongful dismissal claim against the company, which was dismissed in November 2022. According to the May 6 decision, FSD Pharma’s costs were made up of legal fees of $1.98 million, disbursements of $509,005, and HST of $323,760.
In a statement at the time, FSD Pharma signaled appreciation for the judge’s ruling and expressed optimism that Dr. Bokhari would cease his pursuit of compensation and damages.
However, Bokhari seems to be doubling down on his legal efforts against his former employer. Two new claims filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice allege breach of his employment contract and intentional interference with economic relations. The filings also accuse FSD’s founders, Anthony Durkacz and Zeeshan Saeed, of negligence, misrepresentation and other wrongdoings during a contentious proxy fight in 2021 that led to Bokhari’s dismissal, he claims.
Bokhari is additionally seeking to set aside the arbitral award issued by Cunningham, citing non-disclosure of a past and ongoing business relationship between the arbitrator and FSD Pharma’s attorneys — Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP.
“(FSD Pharma’s attorneys) makes a claim on their website that they are ‘adept at selecting the right arbitrators’,” Bokhari said in a statement Wednesday, insinuating possible bias.
In the release, Bokhari pointed to mounting legal problems for FSD Pharma, in which the company has also been sued for more than $53 million by GBB Drink Lab in a Florida federal court for misappropriating trade secrets and breaching non-disclosure agreements.
With the arbitration decision on one side and fresh legal challenges on the other, the legal barb trading between the now-cannabis-less company and its former CEO shows no signs of concluding anytime soon.
