Michael Jordan wins ruling in paternity pay-off suit
Michael Jordan, a five-time National Basketball Association most valuable player, needn't honor an alleged promise to pay $5 million to an ex-lover for her vow to keep their relationship secret, an Illinois appeals court said.
A three-judge panel today unanimously upheld a trial-court ruling that the agreement claimed by the former girlfriend, Karla Knafel, was unenforceable because it was based on the false premise that she was pregnant with his child.
``Contrary to Knafel's assertions, her own allegations establish that paternity was material to the alleged settlement agreement,'' Appellate Judge Mary Jane Theis wrote in the court's decision.
Jordan sued Knafel in 2002 seeking a court declaration that the deal was unenforceable. He also claimed she demanded the money after he paid $250,000 more than a decade ago. Knafel countersued, claiming that the former Chicago Bulls guard promised the $5 million in 1991 to avoid a paternity suit and repeated that promise in 1998.
Jordan led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships in the 1990s. Now part owner of the league's Charlotte Bobcats franchise, he has built a multimillion-dollar industry on his public image, through endorsements of Nike Inc.'s Air Jordan shoes, PepsiCo Inc.'s Gatorade sports drinks and other products.
While Jordan wasn't the baby's father according to a paternity test, Knafel's attorney, Michael Hannafan, said today in a phone interview that the test results are still disputed.
`Actual Paternity'
``The contract was not conditioned upon or based upon actual paternity,'' Hannafan said. The payment was to be in exchange for her promise not to file a paternity suit, which she didn't do, he said.
Hannafan said he would petition Illinois' highest court for permission to appeal the ruling, arguing that it disregarded settled state law on contract formation and factual mistakes.
``We are pleased that Michael Jordan's position has been vindicated,'' his attorney, Frederick Sperling of Chicago's Schiff Hardin law firm said in a phone interview. Sperling declined to address Hannafan's comments.