Spectrum: Lance Armstrong faces nearly $100 million in damages A court in Washington DC earlier this week rejected a motion by the doping offender's defense attorneys to dismiss the case. If the jury agrees with that verdict, Armstrong could face the loss of his entire fortune.
The legal dispute between Lance Armstrong on the one hand and the former sponsor of his team US Postal Service and the US government on the other hand has been going on for several years now. Almost since the doping practices within the team became known, the US Postal Service has been suing for almost $100 million in damages. Ex-team boss Armstrong and his lawyers resisted a process in this regard until the end, but a court in the US capital now seems to have broken this resistance.
The background is sponsorship payments from the semi-state company US Postal Service to the former Armstrong team between 1996 and 2004. These probably amounted to almost 33 million US dollars, but US Postal lawyers had repeatedly argued that it was caused by the doping scandal Damage to the company's image would require compensation for damages that is three times higher. The Armstrong side had replied that the American postal service provider had benefited enormously from the team during its sponsorship and tried to dismiss the lawsuit.
A judge now followed the statements of the US Postal lawyers: Accordingly, a basic condition of the sponsorship would have been that the team would not use any illegal performance-enhancing substances. Armstrong withheld information in this regard and a lawsuit is admissible for this reason.
A piquant detail is also that Armstrong's ex-teammate Floyd Landis, who got the ball rolling with his confession, would be entitled to 25 percent of the damage amount in the event of a successful lawsuit under US law.