Armstrong files counterclaim
2005-04-06 12:45
Austin - Lance Armstrong has filed a counterclaim with a Texas judge asking for $125 000 from a former aide who earlier claimed he discovered steroids in the bathroom of cycling champion's apartment, American media reported on Tuesday.
It "was an egregious character assassination founded upon a demonstrably false string of sensational, untrue and fabricated allegations," the latest court documents from Armstrong's lawyers stated.
The six-time Tour de France winner Armstrong levelled his guns at a former personal assistant Mike Anderson, seeking compensation for legal fees, harassment and other out-of-pocket expenses and calling Anderson's legal claim "below the level of tabloid journalism".
In that claim Anderson says he found a box of steroids last year while cleaning Armstrong's apartment in Spain.
Anderson also claimed there was "a deliberate effort by this group of wrongdoers to insure that Lance Armstrong wins at the Tour de France, cheating for profit, with the use of banned substances, while professing that Armstrong does not use any banned substances... an evil and oppressive and dishonest scheme that equals the greatest scandal in sports history."
Anderson said he also feared for the safety of his family after Armstrong sacked him last year following two years of employment.
"(Armstrong) followed the termination with persistent and oppressive efforts, including threats to Anderson and his family," court papers claim.
Armstrong's own version of the events are detailed in a lawsuit he first filed three months ago which has been updated through a series of counterclaims.
He says he never promised to help Anderson start his own bike shop and says the former assistant is simply trying to extort money from him.
Armstrong filed a counterclaim on Friday which has Anderson admitting in a deposition taken last Wednesday that Anderson has no direct knowledge of Armstrong using steroids.
"I didn't have any intention of repeating that (drug) stuff again, it was only things I seen throughout the course of my employment," said Anderson in his deposition. "If I had seen him taking something I knew was wrong, that would be different. But it was only a hunch, and I left it at that."
Anderson turned down a 10,000 dollar severance package from Armstrong after being fired and instead asked for a 500,000 dollar settlement.
Armstrong called it extortion and that sparked the first lawsuit.