Discovery Disputes Continue in Lance Armstrong, DOJ Lawsuit

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In June 2010, Floyd Landis — retired professional road racing cyclist — filed a lawsuit under the federal False Claims Act, alleging that the doping at the United States Postal Service (USPS) professional cycling team amounted to defrauding the federal government, which was the team’s primary sponsor. Landis named a number of defendants, including seven time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong.

In 2013, the federal government, represented by the United States Department of Justice, joined the lawsuit. The False Claims Act is designed to protect the federal government from fraud by private contractors. The statute allows private citizens to bring an action on the government’s behalf and claim damages if successful. The idea is to encourage whistleblowers to come forward. Under the statute, the federal government may join the lawsuit at its discretion.

The federal government is arguing that Armstrong and the other defendants defrauded the federal government by doping and covering it up. Doping is considered cheating, and the cycling team’s contract with the USPS contained a clause nullifying the deal if the team violated USPS policies or ethical standards.

Discovery has been a contentious issue in the case, with both sides arguing that the other has withheld documents. On Friday, November 20, 2015 the government requested that the court force Armstrong to provide proof of the benefits it obtained through the USPS’s sponsorship. The government is claiming that it needs this information to calculate damages. According to the government’s “Summary of Discovery Dispute,” Armstrong is holding discovery “hostage,” and “[if] Armstrong wishes to claim that the USPS made sales attributable to the sponsorship, then he is required to disclose what those sales were.”

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