Bjorn Leukemans makes a fortune of €150,000 as compensation fee from Belgian Cycling Company
Belgian professional cyclist Bjorn Leukemans has won a kismet worth €150,000 as compensation money from his former team. The cyclist was fired from Team Predictor-Lotto in 2007 but a court in Belgium has now ruled the dismissal ‘illegal’ and the team has
been fined for the same.
The 34-year-old started his professional career in 2001 and stayed with Team Vlaanderen and Palmans before joining the Lotto Team. He is considered to be a Classic specialist and has a number of victories to his credit.
Predictor-Lotto fired the cyclist on December 26, 2007, after his positive results for artificial testosterone, type of an EPO, received during the second day of Tour de France 2007.
The cyclist was surprised on hearing the news and he told Sporza, “I am nevertheless innocent!"
He mentioned on his website, “It is not possible that I am positive. I risk a suspension of two years. My career is on the line. I continue to train".
Bjorn was suspended by his team even though the sample B came out to be negative. The team claimed that the news about a clean B sample has not been officiated as yet.
Leukemans currently rides for Vacansoleil Team, he joined the Dutch squad in 2009. It has been reported by la Derniere Heure that the cyclist’s former team did not follow the essential procedure before terminating him.
Belgian Cycling Company (BCC) was the main company behind Team Lotto back in 2007. The firm posted Bjorn’s letter of termination to his parents instead of posting it directly to himself.
According to the Belgian law, an employer is required to take action within three days of learning about the misconduct.
The cyclist had moved from his parents address and the team was notified about the new address.
The Labour Court came to a conclusion that the termination letter was posted to the cyclist’s old address hence, BCC had “committed unpardonable negligence and must bear the consequences”.
The cycling company will now pay a massive amount of €150,000 directly to the cyclist as compensation. However, BCC is not willing to pay the amount and it will file an appeal against the decision, which will bring another interesting dimension to the story.
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