Ramsay sued by NZ promoter

Gordon Ramsay. Photo / Getty Images

Master chef Gordon Ramsay is being sued for $2.1 million for failing to carry out his tour of New Zealand and using his mother's medical condition as an excuse.

Ramsay pulled out of a June speaking tour after claiming his mother had a heart attack.

But Duco Ltd - the company which tried to bring him here - claims to have evidence showing there was no proof of a heart attack.

The company has filed papers with the High Court at Auckland which reveal details of the claim against "Gordon James Ramsay, Chef of Finsgate".

The claim also revealed the company agreed to pay Ramsay $99,000 for giving the main speech and taking questions at two charity dinners planned for Auckland and Wellington in June.

With the cash, Ramsay would get two first-class flights from England to and from Australia, two "best-class available" flights to and from New Zealand and "premium" accommodation. The Chance2Eat dinners were planned to raise money for the medical treatment of Napier girl Matisse Reid, who can't eat because of an intestinal disorder.

The dinners were cancelled in an email from Ramsay's manager Christopher Hutcheson the week before they were to take place on June 22 and 23.

Hutcheson wrote, "We have just heard Gordon's mother Helen has just suffered a minor heart attack. She had a quad bypass a year or so ago and obviously Gordon is frantic to get back to see her."

Hutcheson wrote that the controversial TV chef was filming in remote Vietnam and was leaving "so that he can go straight down to be with her".

And the next day, Hutcheson arranged for a press release to apologise for cancelling with "news of his mother's heart attack".

But the court claim filed by Duco Ltd reveals that Ramsay did not raise cancelling the New Zealand trip until after his mother had been in hospital for five days.

In seeking $2.1m damages, Duco's lawyers stated that there was evidence Ramsay's mother had been admitted to hospital on June 10 with "chest pains".

Then, on June 14, the papers stated "Mrs Ramsay had been discharged home from hospital following an angiogram and there was no evidence she had suffered a heart attack".

The dinner tour was rescheduled for October - but again Ramsay cancelled. According to the legal papers, Ramsay said the tour had to be cancelled because of a "business crisis" in the United Kingdom.

But Duco's claim stated that Ramsay was "making public appearances at events at his own restaurant Verre in Dubai".

Ramsay could not be contacted for comment.

Duco boss David Higgins said he was determined to see the case through and had even won the financial backing of property magnate Sir Robert Jones to do so.

"There has been no contact from [Ramsay], no apology from him and no offers from him personally to us to make good in any way."

Mattise's mum, Jodee Reid, said cancellation of the event was a "huge loss". She can't work in the US but the family is bound to stay there to take up available organs at a moment's notice.

"Matisse has been at the top of the list for a very long time, in fact 3 years. But her organs are really hard to get so it's just a waiting game. We hope to get a phone call one day to say that they have organs."