Former Philadelphia Flyers center Eric Lindros has filed a $3 million lawsuit against former NHL referee Paul Stewart and the Huffington Post after Stewart released a column on the news website. Lindros alleges statements made in the column were defamatory.

The Hockey News

Eric Lindros has filed a $250,000 lawsuit against former NHL referee Paul Stewart and the Huffington Post following a column written by Stewart that ran on the news website.

The column Lindros has taken umbrage with was posted on July 16, 2014 and outlined run-ins Stewart allegedly had with Lindros. One of the incidents that Stewart wrote about saw Lindros tear up autographed posters that the former referee had gotten signed for donation to a charity auction.

According to TSN’s Rick Westhead, the court filing reads that, “it was both intended and foreseeable to Stewart and the AOL defendants that the article would receive widespread public attention and readership. … (Lindros) has suffered aggravated damages as a consequence of the republications.”

Regarding the alleged incident between Stewart and Lindros, Lindros’ lawyer, Geoff Shaw, said, “The statement that Lindros refused to sign posters intended for a charity auction, and more shockingly, tore them up because they were solicited by Stewart is false and makes Lindros out to be unfriendly, hostile, rude, insulting, vindictive, cruel, uncharitable and generally a despicable person."

Lindros is seeking to be awarded $150,000 in general damages and another $100,000 in aggravated damages. He has also requested an injunction that would stop the news website, as well as Stewart, from publishing the column. Huffington Post and Paul Stewart have not released statements on the matter at this time.

[Ed. Note: The initial report stated Lindros was seeking $3 million in the lawsuit. His lawyer, Geoff Shaw, has since amended the claim, lowering the amount to $250,000.]