DALLAS (CN) - Lance Armstrong had a rough weekend, as an arbitration panel ruled he must pay $10 million in sanctions to a Dallas insurer, and a federal judge struck several of his defenses in a $100 million whistleblower lawsuit filed by his former teammate Floyd Landis.
The arbitration award was made public Monday after Dallas-based SCA Promotions petitioned in county court to confirm a three-member panel's findings. In a 2-1 split decision, the panel said Armstrong must pay the penalties because "perjury must never be profitable."
The dispute began 11 years ago when Armstrong and his management company, Tailwind Sports, sued SCA Promotions for refusing to pay him a $5 million bonus for winning the Tour de France in 2003, due to suspicions that he had doped.
The dispute went to arbitration in 2005 and Armstrong won, resulting in a 2006 settlement awarding him $7.5 million .
SCA sued Armstrong, his agent William Stapleton and Tailwind in Dallas County Court six years later, after the Union Cycliste International stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France victories and banned him from the sport for life, citing the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency's "reasoned decision" that accused Armstrong of running the most sophisticated doping program in sports history.
Armstrong confirmed the accusations in January 2013 in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey. The interview featured excerpts from sworn testimony Armstrong gave during his lawsuit against SCA that implied he lied while under oath.
Armstrong tried unsuccessfully in 2014 to persuade the trial judge and appellate courts to stop additional arbitration in SCA's lawsuit and halt his inevitable deposition under oath .
In its 2-1 ruling, the arbitration panel condemned Armstrong for "almost certainly" carrying out "the most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history."
"Justice in courts of law and arbitration tribunals is impossible when parties feel free to deliberately deceive judges or arbitrators," the 25-page arbitration award states. "The case yet again before this tribunal presents an unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy. Tailwind Sports Corp. and Lance Armstrong have justly earned wide public condemnation. That is an inadequate deterrent. Deception demands real, meaningful sanctions."
The majority consisted of Chairman Richard Faulker and SCA-appointed arbitrator Richard Chernick. The dissent was from defendant-appointed arbitrator Ted Lyon, who wrote the $10 million award "is not based on the law."
"The final decision by the panel reminds me about the 'do right rule," Lyon wrote. "It doesn't matter what the law is, let's just do what is right. Arbitrators, like judges, don't have that luxury, and the panel exceeded its authority by indulging itself here."
Lyon said SCA "has been found by the panel to have engaged in the business of selling insurance in Texas without a license," exposing SCA to possible liability for treble damages and attorney fees.
"Armstrong was seeking $10 million in damages and attorneys fees, opening SCA up to a potential liability of over $22 million," Lyon wrote. "No party in this case came here with clean hands."
The arbitration panel's award is the second time Armstrong has been ordered to return money to an insurer. In November 2013, Armstrong settled a lawsuit by Acceptance Insurance over $3 million in race bonuses paid to him.