The lawsuit, filed Wednesday on behalf of "John Doe" in Los Angeles County Superior Court, seeks an injunction to prevent USADA from ever testing the 'B' sample. The agency originally planned to test the 'B' sample Jan. 15, the lawsuit says, but after the plaintiff's attorneys demanded the agency scrap that test, USADA canceled it.

The lawsuit calls for a jury trial and seeks to recoup damages the plaintiff claims were incurred when the anti-doping agency revealed the case to race organizers and the UCLA testing lab.

The plaintiff's name is redacted in the 25-page lawsuit, but the cyclist's lawyers are Maurice Suh and Howard Jacobs, the same team that represents Floyd Landis in his doping case.

Landis told The Associated Press he is not the plaintiff, and the dates mentioned in the lawsuit don't conform to Landis' race dates at the 2006 Tour de France.

Suh did not immediately respond to messages left by AP seeking comment. USA Cycling officials said they were unaware of the lawsuit.

USADA general counsel Bill Bock said he had to adhere to USADA rules forbidding him to talk about specific cases, but called the lawsuit "utterly frivolous and morally bankrupt."

"But filing a John Doe lawsuit in state court seeking to prohibit analysis of a sample certainly raises the question of, what are they hiding from? What are they seeking to hide?" Bock said.

The lawsuit alleges USADA notified the plaintiff last Nov. 15 that the 'A' sample came back negative. Despite that negative finding, the agency directed the UCLA lab to test the 'B' sample, "thereby violating the applicable rules and regulations governing anti-doping control and testing."

The lawsuit cited international rules that state an athlete can be deemed to have tested positive only if both the 'A' and 'B' samples come back positive.

"Thus, the only purpose for testing the 'B' sample is to harass (plaintiff) and attempt to harm his reputation," the lawsuit read.

It says that by telling race organizers the plaintiff is under investigation, USADA has damaged the cyclist's reputation and ability to compete in races and secure sponsors.

According to the USADA code, a 'B' sample is to be tested after receipt of a positive 'A' sample.

Don Catlin, former director of the UCLA lab, said he couldn't recall being asked to test a 'B' sample after a negative 'A.'

"It would certainly be unusual," he said.