n*****3
发帖数: 94 | 1 转自:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/01/24/us-usa-armstrong-laws
Lance Arstrong 被起诉了, 可能要赔上上百万块!
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Lance Armstrong sued for fraud over book fabrications
(Reuters) - Two California men have sued Lance Armstrong and his book
publishers for fraud and false advertising, claiming that the cyclist's best
-selling memoirs, billed as non-fiction, were revealed to be filled with
lies after he confessed last week to systematic doping.
The class-action complaint was filed in federal court in Sacramento,
California on Tuesday, five days after Armstrong ended years of vehement
denial and admitted in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that he had
cheated his way to a record seven Tour de France titles through the use of
banned, performance-enhancing drugs.
The named plaintiffs in the suit were Rob Stutzman, a public relations
executive who served as a deputy chief of staff for former California
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jonathan Wheeler, a chef and amateur
cyclist.
They said they bought the books "It's Not About the Bike" and "Every Second
Counts" because they believed in Armstrong and his story of returning
without drug assistance to the Tour de France after a nearly fatal bout with
testicular cancer.
Following Armstrong's doping confession, however, Stutzman and Wheeler said
they felt "duped," "cheated" and "betrayed" by the realization that the
books, marketed as inspirational true-life memoirs, were replete with
fabrications.
Their lawsuit accuses Armstrong and his publishers, Penguin and Random House
, of violating consumer protection laws on false advertising and fraud by
selling the books as works of non-fiction.
Lawyers for the purported class of Armstrong book buyers say readers are
entitled to restitution and possibly statutory and punitive damages for
deceptions. They say the publishers should have detected these, even though
Armstrong passed drug screenings for various international cycling
competitions.
A similar lawsuit was filed in 2011 against Greg Mortenson, co-author of the
best seller "Three Cups of Tea," accusing him of fabricating much of his
story about promoting education for impoverished girls in Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
That suit, which alleged fraud and unjust enrichment, was dismissed last
year by a federal judge in Montana.
The Montana suit was sparked by a critical report by CBS television's "60
Minutes" program challenging the credibility of biographical details in "
Three Cups," including Mortenson's account of being kidnapped in Pakistan's
Waziristan region after trying unsuccessfully to scale the mountain K2.
The legal cry of fraud against Mortenson followed the example of readers who
won a $2.75 million settlement from literary hoaxer James Frey who, like
Armstrong, confessed his deception in an interview with Winfrey. His
settlement marked a rare victory for aggrieved book buyers.
One potentially significant advantage held by litigants suing Armstrong is
that their was filed under California's exceptionally plaintiff-friendly
consumer protections laws.
Penguin will be represented in the Armstrong suit by the firm Dorsey &
Whitney, which won the Mortenson case for his publisher. The lawyers are
sure to raise the same First Amendment and implied-duty defenses in the new
case as in the "Three Cups" dispute.
Dorsey partner Jonathan Herman declined to comment on how the publisher will
respond to the Armstrong complaint's California-law claims but said, "As
far as we're concerned, this is also a case that should be dismissed."
(Additional reporting and writing by Steve Gorman; Editing by Cynthia
Johnston and Christopher Wilson | L*********s
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