Lance Armstrong Sued for $12M Bonus

07 Feb, 2013

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Dallas promotions company sued Lance Armstrong on Thursday, demanding he repay $12 million in bonuses and fees it paid him for winning the Tour de France.

SCA Promotions had tried in a 2005 legal dispute over the bonuses to prove Armstrong cheated to win before it ultimately settled and paid him.

Armstrong recently acknowledged using performance-enhancing drugs after the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency in 2012 detailed a sophisticated doping program by his Armstrong’s teams. Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories and given a lifetime ban from sports.

Now, the company contends in its lawsuit, Armstrong and agent Bill Stapleton lied and conspired to cheat SCA out of millions. The lawsuit notes that Armstrong repeatedly testified under oath in the 2005 dispute that he did not use steroids, other drugs or blood doping methods to win, all of which he now admits to doing.

“It is time now for Mr. Armstrong to face the consequences of his actions,” said the lawsuit, which demands a jury trial. “He admits he doped; he admits he bullied people; he admits he lied.”

Armstrong won the Tour de France every year from 1999-2005. The SCA lawsuit seeks to recover $9.5 million in bonus money for winning the race from 2002-2004 and another $2.5 million paid to Armstrong for other costs and fees.

The lawsuit names Armstrong, Stapleton and Tailwind Sports, Inc., the team’s management entity, as defendants.

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