Toronto MP Kevin Vuong settles lawsuit over COVID mask business

Toronto MP Kevin Vuong has settled a $1.5 million lawsuit filed by a former associate.

Designer and entrepreneur Anna-Maria Mountfort claimed Vuong and his business partner Larry Lau unfairly cut her out of their lucrative pandemic mask-making business, TakeCare Supply.

Mountfort launched the civil suit in late 2020, after she said she had come up with the name and design for the firm's signature mask earlier that year. According to her statement of claim filed in Toronto Superior Court, she was eventually pushed out and paid too little, in breach of an agreement with the defendants.

The case was set to go to trial this week but has now been settled out of court.

Vuong, the Independent MP for the downtown Spadina–Fort York riding, told CBC News in a brief email on Tuesday «the settlement terms are confidential.»

Mountfort declined to comment.

Vuong denied plaintiff was a formal partner: court filing

In a previous court filing, Vuong and Lau denied the plaintiff was ever a formal partner in their business.

Vuong, a naval reservist, ran in the 2021 federal election as a Liberal but was disavowed by the party just days before the vote. The Liberals said Vuong had failed to disclose a 2019 sexual assault charge, which was first reported by the Toronto Star.

The charge was ultimately dropped. Vuong has denied wrongdoing and described the initial allegation as a «fantasy.»

Vuong was later handed a $500 fine by the military for failing to inform his commanding officer of the criminal charge.

Ballots in the 2021 election still listed Vuong as the Liberal candidate for Spadina–Fort York.

Earlier this year, Vuong said he asked Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre to let him join the Tory caucus.