Discussion #1
A CONTRACT case that I found online that I thought to be interesting was a lawsuit concerning Lance Armstrong. The U.S. Postal service said that Armstrong violated a CONRACT that he had with them because he was “unjustly enriched” and cheated to win the Tour de France. The postal service paid $40 million to be the title sponsor of Armstrong’s teams and paid him for 6 of his 7 victories and said they wouldn’t have done so if they had have known Armstrong was “doping” up. The complaint said, “Dependents were unjustly enriched to the extent of payments and other benefits they received from the USPS either directly or indirectly”. The government noted that in the contract the USPS required riders to follow the rules of cycling which does include cyclist to not use any sort of performance enhancing drugs which, after many years, Armstrong finally admitted to using steroids, blood boosters, and other illegal performance enhancing drugs in order to win. Armstrong claimed that the USPS was well aware of his drug use (Vertuno, J. 2013).
“Under the False Claims Act, the government could recover triple damages – possibly as much as $120 million – if it succeeds in proving its case. In filing the suit against Armstrong, the government joined a case originally filed under seal in June 2010 by former Armstrong teammate Floyd Landis, who stands to get a cut of the damages as a whistleblower if the government succeeds”(Vertuno,J 2013).
This was a BILATERAL CONTRACT in such that Armstrong was paid to compete and win. The contract was fully EXUCUTED but later the fact occurred that Armstrong was using drugs which was a breach of the contract. I am anxious to see the outcome of this lawsuit.
USA today. (2013). Armstrong: u.s. postal service got 'what it bargained for'. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com
Vertuno, J. (2013). Huffington Post. Lance Armstrong lawsuit: justice department says cyclist