Should travel insurance cover drunken escapades that include public indecency and roughhousing? One millionaire Bay Street financier might argue yes.
According to allegations in a recent lawsuit,Toronto millionaire Michael “Wek” Wekerle, co-founder of Difference Capital Financial Inc., went on a “drunken escapade” at a luxury Arkansas hotel three years ago, exposing himself to guests and roughhousing with staff.
According to the claim, Wekerle started by blowing an air horn in the lobby, dropped his pants, licked a woman’s foot, yelled profanity and attempted to flip a doorman over his shoulder.
Bud Whetstone – a lawyer for the doorman – says the flip has caused a permanent injury to the shoulder of his client, and is suing for “at least” $150,000 in damages.
The allegations from the suit place Wekerle at the Capital Hotel in Little Rock, Ark., where the executive had flown on a private jet on Oct. 22, 2010.
According to the hotel security incident report filed as an exhibit by the plaintiff’s lawyers, Wekerle “came in with a fanny pack full of money,” and was “throwing it everywhere.” (continued.)
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The lawsuit then alleges that Wekerle then hoisted a female guest off the ground and carried her through the lobby of the locally famous hotel, known as the “Grand Dame” of Little Rock, where Ulysses S. Grant once stayed.
He then allegedly proceeded to lick the bottom of a woman’s shoe, remove the shoe and then lick the bottom of her foot, the complaint alleges. Wekerle also allegedly walked through the lobby with his pants down, then dropped his pants and underwear in the hotel bar, exposing himself to guests.
After several attempts to calm him down, he started horsing around with a hotel valet, Brooks Jansen, and hurt his shoulder when he tugged Jansen’s arm “as if he were about to flip Mr. Jansen over his shoulder,” the complaint alleges.
The case is still before the court.
In a statement emailed to the Toronto Star by his lawyer, Wekerle said the incident occurred during a difficult period of his life.
“I had just lost my wife and I still have difficult moments. While I dispute certain parts of the allegations, I acknowledge that on that night three years ago I behaved in a way that I'm not particularly proud of. For that, I apologize. There is a legal process currently unfolding and I am going to let it run its course,” he wrote.
At the time of the incident, Wekerle had just become a single dad with four children younger than 11, said his lawyer, Jeff Kehoe. (continued.)
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A security video obtained by Jansen’s lawyer during his worker’s compensation hearing appears to show Wekerle lift a woman off her feet and carry her from the sidewalk into the hotel.
Wekerle was head of trading at First Marathon from 1982 to 1994 before co-founding GMP Securities, where he served as vice-chairman until 2011.
His wife died of a heart attack in March 2010 at age 39, and, according to Toronto Life magazine Wekerle shortly afterward “began behaving erratically.”
He started a new firm Difference Capital in March 2012, quickly raising millions to launch a new career on Bay Street.
