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LOS ANGELES, California, July 10. TODAY, Erik Vendt fired back at TYR with a countersuit claiming TYR lawyer Larry Hilton slandered him, according to a report by the Associated Press.
As reported by Paul Newberry, "Vendt made his own breach-of-contract claims against TYR Sport in the federal lawsuit filed in California. He also sued the company for slander, alleging that comments made by its attorney, Larry Hilton, have cost the swimmer other endorsement deals."
Also according to the report, "Hilton's words were slanderous because they tend to injure Vendt in his business as a professional swimmer by imputing to Vendt that he is disloyal to a sponsor, greedy, unconcerned about fulfilling contractual obligations, dishonest, and illogical," the lawsuit says.
Only time, and the court system, will tell who comes out on top of what will surely be a storyline throughout the Olympics. The story is likely to even drag on longer than that as the several parties involved in the court battle continue to bring out the heavy artillery.
Full text of Associated Press article.
Full text of Swimming World article reporting on original TYR lawsuit.