Illinois court sides with Michael Jordan

CHICAGO, Dec. 13 (UPI) -- An Illinois appellate court has ruled against a former lover of Michael Jordan who claims she is owed $5 million by the retired basketball star.

The 1st District Appellate Court in Chicago sided with Jordan, who sued Karla Knafel in 2002 after she claimed the former Chicago Bull promised her the money in 1991 in exchange for her agreeing to remain silent and not file a paternity suit after she discovered she was pregnant, the Chicago Tribune reported Thursday.

The court said regardless whether Jordan made the agreement, Knafel misled him by claiming he was the father of the child. DNA tests taken after the suit was filed concluded Jordan was not the child's father.

Knafel's "failure to disclose the information" that she had sex with another man at the time of conception "amounts to a failure to act in good faith," Judge Mary Jane Theis wrote in the three-judge panel's decision.

Knafel's attorney, Blake Hannafan, said he plans to appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court.