Julie Couillard is suing her former employer for $250,000 as part of the fallout from her public relationship with former foreign affairs minister Maxime Bernier last year, court records show.
Ms. Couillard alleges in a defamation suit that she was humiliated when officials with Kevlar Group Inc. denied any commercial link with her last year. She said she was under contract with Kevlar at the time, and had previously received six payments totalling $45,000 from the real-estate firm.
"The plaintiff's professional reputation was sullied by the defendant's statements. She presented herself to people in the real estate field as a representative of Kevlar, and her employer's denials cast doubts over her status," says a document filed in court by Ms. Couillard's lawyer, Julius Grey.
"The plaintiff was humiliated, insulted and worried," it says.
Kevlar officials could not be reached for comment.
The relationship between Ms. Couillard and Mr. Bernier created a scandal last year, with the opposition branding Ms. Couillard a security threat because of her past ties to members of biker gangs.
Mr. Bernier resigned from cabinet after Ms. Couillard revealed that she was in possession of classified documents that she said had been left at her home by Mr. Bernier.
In book released last fall, Ms. Couillard said she represented the Kevlar Group on the company's bid to build a complex to house federal bureaucrats in Quebec City in 2007. Ms. Couillard said the arrangement came about after Kevlar executives learned that she was acquainted with a senior ministerial adviser at the Department of Public Works who was working on the file.
"You know Bernard Côté? The Bernard Côté who works for Public Works Canada?" Kevlar co-president Philippe Morin asked Ms. Couillard, according to her book. "Next time you see him, put in a good word about my land in Quebec City."
Ms. Couillard said she had two separate contracts with Kevlar, including one in which she "was to represent Kevlar" on the Quebec City project. She said she obtained Kevlar business cards describing her as a "business development officer."
Ms. Couillard said Mr. Morin introduced her to Mr. Bernier at a restaurant in Montreal.