Armstrong v. Tygart | Hearing is Today

by Renée Kolar

This week, in anticipation of today’s hearing in front of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, we’ve been summarizing the legal issues raised in Lance Armstrong’s Amended Complaint and USADA and Tygart’s responses in their motion to dismiss. Today, the District Court will decide whether or not it should enjoin Defendants from enforcing an arbitration deadline against Armstrong while the lawsuit progresses.

The current legal dispute arose when the U.S. Anti Doping Agency (USADA) notified Armstrong and other members of the team on June 12, 2012 of its opening of a formal action alleging anti-doping rule violations. (read the notification here). On June 29, the Anti-Doping Review Board made a unanimous recommendation to move forward with Armstrong’s adjudication process. The USADA then announced that three members of Armstrong’s team received lifetime periods of ineligibility as the result of their anti-doping rule violations in the United States Postal Service (USPS) Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy. (read more here)

On July 9, Armstrong filed a lawsuit and a motion for a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the Western District of Texas attempting to shut down the USADA case. (read the Complaint and TRO). However, the Court promptly dismissed (without prejudice) Armstrong’s suit in a strongly worded Order. (read the Order here). Armstrong was allowed to re-file an amended complaint within 20 days of the Court’s order which he did the next day. Armstrong v. Tygart et al. , No. A-12-CA-606-SS. (read the July 10th Amended Complaint here).

On July 11, the USADA granted Armstrong an extension of up to 30 days (the original deadline was July 14) to contest drug charges.

Should the court decide today not to enjoin USADA and stay the arbitration deadline, the deadline for Armstrong to choose arbitration expires on August 13^th. If Armstrong doesn’t respond to the USADA doping charges prior to the end of the extension period and ask for an arbitration hearing to face the allegations, a lifetime ban will go into place and he could face the loss of his Tour de France titles.

Related Posts:

• Armstrong v. Tygart | Lance Armstrong Responds to USADA’s Motion to Dismiss, Disputing, August 8, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | Fairness of Arbitration Procedure, Disputing, August 8, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | Jurisdiction, Disputing, August 7, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | Existence of Agreement to Arbitrate, Disputing, August 6, 2012
• The International Convention Against Doping in Sport of 2005, Disputing, August 2, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA’s Successful Arbitration Track Record, Disputing, August 1, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part VI | Right to Appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Disputing, July 30, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part V |USADA Expedited Track, Disputing, July 26, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part IV | The Arbitration Hearing, Disputing, July 25, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part III | The Appointment of Arbitrators, Disputing, July 24, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part II | The Review Board Track, Disputing, July 23, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | USADA Files Motion to Dismiss Lance Armstrong’s Suit , Disputing, July 21, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Adjudication Process Part I | USADA ‘Results Management,’ Disputing, July 19, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | Texas Federal Court Will Hear Lance Armstrong Case on August 10, Disputing, July 18, 2012
• Armstrong v. Tygart | Lance Armstrong’s Suit and Restraining Order against USADA, Disputing, July 17, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | What is the USADA? Disputing, July 16, 2012
• USADA Case against Lance Armstrong | USADA Allegations, Disputing, July 13, 2012
• Lance Armstrong | The Doping Controversy Continues, Disputing, July 12, 2012

Renée Kolar is a summer intern at Karl Bayer, Dispute Resolution Expert . Renée is a J.D. candidate at The University of Texas School of Law and holds an undergraduate degree in Applied Foreign Languages from l’Université Stendhal in Grenoble, France.