We hear the excuse, “I didn’t know the product I was using included banned substances” all the time, but in the case of St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vabora, a Federal judge actually agreed with it:
ST. LOUIS – A Florida nutritional supplement company was ordered to pay St. Louis Rams linebacker David Vobora more than $5.4 million over a contaminated product that led to his four-game NFL suspension, the player’s legal team said Monday.
A federal judge ruled Friday that S.W.A.T.S intentionally misrepresented its “Ultimate Sports Spray,” which Vobora was led to believe was clean before he tested positive for the banned substance methyltestosterone and was suspended in September 2009.
The company was told to pay Vobora $2 million for damage done to his reputation, $3.04 million for loss of future income and a combined $360,588 for the loss of marketing endorsements, performance bonuses and game checks, according to court documents published on Leagle.com.
Next challenge, collecting, which will probably be harder than winning the case.