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news
Lance Armstrong Photo by Maryse Alberti, Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics$100 million Lance Armstrong lawsuit to head to trial by jury, judge rules
A federal judge in the United States has ruled that Lance Armstrong will have to stand trial in the whistleblower lawsuit initiated by his former US Postal Service team mate, Floyd Landis, an action that could cost the Texan up to $100 million if he loses.
Landis brought the action in 2010 under the False Claims Act, a piece of legislation originally targeting profiteers during World War 2, but now also used in cases concerning alleged misuse of federal funds generally.
He alleged that that Armstrong and others connected with the team misused federal funds, in the form of sponsorship money, to fund the doping programme that led to the seven-time Tour de France winner being stripped of those titles and banned from professional cycling for life in 2012.
The action was subsequently joined by the Department of Justice, and after years of legal wrangling with Armstrong’s lawyers attempting to have the case thrown out, US District Judge Christopher Cooper today ruled it should go to trial, most likely before a jury.
The judge said: “Because the government has offered evidence that Armstrong withheld information about the team’s doping and use of [performance-enhancing drugs] and that the anti-doping provisions of the sponsorship agreements were material to USPS’s decision to continue the sponsorship and make payments under the agreements, the Court must deny Armstrong’s motion for summary judgment on this issue.”
Attorneys for the 45-year-old had said that USPS gained much more value than the $32.3 million it spent to sponsor the team, and as a result had sustained no damage.
However, Judge Cooper disagreed, saying: “The Court concludes that the monetary amount of the benefits USPS received is not sufficiently quantifiable to keep any reasonable juror from finding that the agency suffered a net loss on the sponsorship, especially if one considers the adverse effect on the Postal Service’s revenues and brand value that may have resulted from the negative publicity surrounding the subsequent investigations of Armstrong’s doping and his widely publicized confession.
“Determination of damages must therefore be left to a jury. Accordingly, the Court declines to grant Armstrong summary judgment on damages and will set the case for trial.”
Under the False Claims Act, and depending on the ruling of the judge trying the case, the US Government can recoup up to three times the original amount at issue, meaning that Armstrong may face a bill of close to $100 million should he lose.
That would also leave Landis – himself stripped of the 2006 Tour de France title for doping – in line for a bumper payday, since as the initiator of the action he would be entitled to a substantial percentage of any moneys recouped by the government.
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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17 comments
Can't wait to see exactly how USPS present their supposed 'loss' figures once Armstrong was caught out.
We've got Brexit to blame for everything, they've got Armstrong.
Going to be tricky. A cyclist against another cyclist. Can they both be found guilty since there's no non-cyclist to be found innocent?
I don't see how Landis, a drugs cheat and someone who has also been stripped of a TdF title, should profit from this at all? World has gone mad.
Exactly, cheats versus cheats, wiggins has been caught cheating but people still go to their favourite whipping boy for an entire sport which is dirty to the core.
Get over it, which ever way you look at in a field as doped up as it ever was he won 7 tours, so many people with chips on their shoulders does nothing for the sport, they protest they are trying to clean up.
If you really think that Wiggins taking medication approved under a TUE is the same as what Lance Armstrong did, then there's really no hope for anyone.
No it's not on the same level at all. SKY & Brailsfords sophistacted calculated and bloody minded "marginal gains" bullying and intimidation machine makes Lance look like a mere amateur, albeit the most winningest in history.
Dave's bullying and intimidation machine (current version 3.9) was years in development, various parts of it being completed independently under sheets in some of the top UK universities. It is the most efficient pedalling device ever produced, powered by some of the best legs in cycling, and Dave denies all knowledge of its existence.
Lance nicked his neighbours Hemi V8, hot-rodded the shit out of it, and painted 'Lance's Bul1ying and Initimdation Masheen' over it in rainbow paint. He then did doughnuts over his neighbour's lawn and boffed his wife in the back seat. When his neighbour came out he took his shirt off to reveal his 'Why Always Me?' t-shirt and then floored it back to his through the hedge while singing the Bonanza theme tune. It's still in his garage.
They should both do 5 laps of Monza.
Exactly! Ask anyone who rode those 7 tours who won them. Wiggins was charged to the gills on roids and whatever was in the secret bags and he wasn't even the strongest rider on his team, never mind the race.
Getting so sick of "disgraced American Armstrong" stories.
'Charged to the gills on roids' Yeah, course, with all the doping checks he'd have gone through.
Salad.
"don't get high on your own supply" said one of your countrymen once.
#justsayin
you gotta be on drugs
The American legal system is a whole different level of insane.
If I'm understanding this correctly (I'm almost certain I'm not, but there's just that nagging doubt due to the barking nature of US litigation, and it's not the first time I've read it), Pretty Boy Floyd effectively gets a commission from the damages awarded to the Government for bringing the case?!
I'm mulling over bringing my own case against Landis, then, for just colouring my worldview that bit more jade, and hoping I can get the US government to jump in over brand damage to the US legal system.
The Donald: I'll have you next, sunshine
"if one considers the adverse effect on the Postal Service’s revenues and brand value that may have resulted from the negative publicity..."
the judge should read this wikipedia entry,
"Going postal, in American English slang, means becoming extremely and uncontrollably angry, often to the point of violence, and usually in a workplace environment.
The expression derives from a series of incidents from 1986 onward in which United States Postal Service (USPS) workers shot and killed managers, fellow workers, and members of the police or general public in acts of mass murder. Between 1986 and 1997, more than 40 people were gunned down by current or former employees in at least 20 incidents of workplace rage."
Armstrong and Landis were entirely appropriate representatives!
Trial by combat would be much more interesting.
Get a grip
Na na na na na na na
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AphxyjrH4SE
T'Pau will judge you. Fail and you shall die.
You think that would be fitting for a cheat? Guy would probably bring a gun to a knif fight.