Article content

City councillor Peter McQueen scored a legal victory Tuesday in a battle over a bar he claimed was “selling sex” to attract customers in Nôtre-Dame-de-Grace.

The bar’s owner, Peter Sergakis, sued McQueen last April, claiming $100,000 in damages for comments that he believes equated him to a pimp. But on Tuesday a Superior Court judge said that while McQueen’s words were harsh, they did not cause undue harm to Sergakis’s business.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Judge throws out $100,000 "sex bar" lawsuit against N.D.G. councillor Back to video

“I’m happy the judge considered Sergakis’s actions as being abusive,” said McQueen, who represents the Côte-des-Neiges-Nôtre-Dame-de-Grace borough. “It’s a great victory for free expression and for the elected officials who work hard and with conviction to defend the citizens they represent.”

The war of words erupted last spring after McQueen saw a commercial for Jersey’s Saloon that featured scantily clad women dancing on the bar and having drinks poured down their navel. The councillor then took to his Facebook page, where he implored residents of the neighbourhood to sign a petition against the bar.