Circle K employee wants his share of $12.8m lottery prize

• Former Circle K employee continues to fight for his chance to claim a 50% of a lottery prize
• The Arizona Lottery has recused itself of the case involving a $12.8m prize, and will comply with a court decision instead
• The lottery will comply with a court’s decision and transfer the money as it is ordered to while keeping it in an interest-bearing account while it awaits a decision

A now former Circle K employee continues his uphill battle against the company over the latter’s denial to let him take 50% share of an unclaimed $12.8m lottery prize. The case has saw the now former store manager and the company argue in court over who owns the money.

Former Circle K store manager wants to do the right thing

Robert Gawlitza, the manager, argues that he is entitled to 50% of a $12.8m lottery prize, citing historic precedent and his company’s established practices of who covers costs for unpaid printed tickets.

The onus, argues Gawlitza’s attorney, Josh Kolsrud, is on his client to pay for any unpritend tickets, and this would have been the case in any other situation, he maintains.

The issue has to do with with something that happened in November. A customer walked into the 56th Steet and Bell Road Circle K in Arizona and asked for $85 worth of lottery tickets to be printed out. However, the customer only paid $60, and left 25 tickets behind, on the cash register. Anyone could have bought them.

On the next day, Gawlitza realized that one of the tickets had matched all 6 winning numbers from a lottery draw - the November 24 jackpot, which amounted to the $12.8m that is now subject to dispute.

Winning with the numbers 3, 13, 14, 15, 19 and 26, the ticket was left on the counter with Gawlitza purchasing it upon the discovery, i.e., that the ticket was the winning one. He notified corporate and suggested a 50-50 split, as per the words of his attorney.

Kolsrud claims that there is an "unwritten rule" in the company that tickets that were printed but not paid for should be covered by the employee printing them in the first place.

"So, if you accidentally print them out and they go unsold, it's the industry practice for the person who prints them out to be responsible for paying for them. If not the person, then the store manager," Kolsrud explained.

Employee was fired back in January; case drags on

Circle K is pursuing a lawsuit filed in February and asking a Maricopa County court to intervene to determine who owns the ticket. Gawlitza was fired on January 30 after he received a call informing him that he had violated store policy, having worked at the store for 20 years.

"He loved his job; he would love to go back. He's not there anymore because he did do the right thing. He tried to follow all the policies, letter for letter, word for word, and he got fired for it," the attorney argued.

As the case continues to drag on and a final ruling is awaited, the Arizona Lottery has been ordered to leave the money in an interest-bearing account. Kolsrud has confirmed as much. A court has already ruled that the lottery will not be deciding who is the rightful owner of the ticket, but comply with a court decision instead.

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