- Creg Stephenson | cstephenson@al.com
- Bo Jackson was awarded $21 million by an Atlanta-area court last week in a civil suit accusing his niece and nephew of extortion.The 61-year-old Jackson, who grew up in Bessemer and played football and baseball at Auburn before becoming one of the most-recognizable athletes in the world, had filed a complaint in April against siblings Thomas Lee Anderson and Erica M. Anderson — who are his niece and nephew — accusing them of “relentless harassment and intimidation.” On Feb. 2, a Cobb County judge found for Jackson and granted him a permanent protective order against the Andersons in addition to the financial award.
According to the protective order, the Andersons are barred from contacting Jackson or his immediate family and must stay at least 500 yards away from the Jacksons or their homes, schools and workplaces. They are also prohibited from posting about Bo Jackson via social media and must remove all social media content referencing him.Jackson was awarded a little more than $1 million in compensatory damages and to offset attorneys’ fees, with $20 million tacked on as punitive damages.Defendants have acted with malice, wantonness, oppression, with a conscious effort of indifference to circumstances and with the specific intent to cause Plaintiff harm,” Cobb County judge Jason Marbutt wrote in his ruling.According to the lawsuit filed by Jackson through his Marietta, Ga., attorneys, the Andersons — one of whom lives in Cobb County and the other in Texas — attempted to extort $20 million from Jackson in exchange for not publicly disclosing information that would cast him “in a false light” and cause “severe emotional distress.” In addition to his earnings as a professional baseball and football player in the 1980s and 1990s, Jackson was also a well-compensated pitchman for Nike and other companies and has also operated a number of successful businesses over the years.
Bo Jackson was Awarded $21 Million by an Atlanta-Area Court Last Week in a Civil Suit Accusing His Niece and Nephew of Extortion.
Download the WEIS Radio app in the Apple App Store and Google Play Store or subscribe to our text alerts here.
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
Email
Print