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Piqua lottery winners sued by co-workers
Mega Millions: Piqua lottery winners sued by co-workers
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Four Piqua residents are suing their city co-workers who won the $207 million Mega Millions lottery earlier this month, claiming the winners didn't keep their word about sharing any winnings with all regular players.
And they want $41 million.
A lawsuit claiming breach of contract and conversion was filed Tuesday, Dec. 23, in Miami County Common Pleas Court by Doug Harter, Israel Carnes, Tammy K. Wright and Jon Litchfield, all of Piqua.
Named as defendants are winners: Kenny Kirby, John Dembski, Richard Donnelly, James Montgomery, Cynthia Hershberger, Ritchie Williams, Scott Bradley, Dennis Steinke, Loyal Davis Jr., Rodney Stephenson, Jolaine Routson and Arthur J. Rudy, all of Piqua; Amos Steinbrunner of Tipp City; and Clifford Scott Helman of Piqua. The 15th winner, who is retired and did not work for the city, is not named in the suit.
The lawyer for the winners could not be reached immediately for comment.
In the suit, the four claim they are co-workers of some or all of the winners and said they and the winners pooled money to purchase tickets for the Mega Millions drawing.
"Plaintiffs and defendants had an oral agreement whereby if any of the pooled tickets purchased resulted in a winning Mega Millions ticket then all parties would share equally in the proceeds of said winning ticket," lawyers for the four, Erick Bauer and Robert Preston III of Dover, Ohio, wrote in the suit.
The four further claim they joined with the others in a pool for the Dec. 9 Mega Millions drawing from which some cash winnings allegedly were then used to purchase tickets for the Dec. 12 drawing. The co-workers had the winning numbers for the $207 million Dec. 12 drawing.
The four said they were out of the office and unavailable to contribute to the office pool for the Dec. 12 drawing.
When the winning ticket was presented to the Ohio Lottery, the four said, they "were not included ... contrary to the office pooling oral agreement/informal partnership/joint venture, and were not permitted to join with defendants in making a claim for the proceeds."
By not being included in the winnings, the four claim they have suffered immediate injury and an estimated loss of $41.4 million.
The four seek compensatory damages estimated at $41.4 million; punitive damages of inesxcess of $25,000; costs and attorney fees. They also seek a temporary restraining order and against the defendants.
A jury trial is requested.
Dayton Daily News
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74 comments. Last comment 9 months ago by .
Austin United States Member #9550 December 6, 2004 75 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 8:52 pm - IP Logged |
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Idaho United States Member #56982 November 21, 2007 3187 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:01 pm - IP Logged |
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This is one of the major reason I won't join lottery pools. It seems like you have to go through so much hassel if your group wins. I rather just play by myself. "No one remembers the person who almost climbed the mountain, only the person who eventually gets to the top."
ThatScaryChick
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Maryland United States Member #10659 January 14, 2005 3290 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:02 pm - IP Logged |
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Oh boy! Here comes one of the reasons that agreements should be made in writing. Feeling, PRICELESS!!!
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CA United States Member #57701 December 23, 2007 316 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:15 pm - IP Logged |
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This is one of the major reason I won't join lottery pools. It seems like you have to go through so much hassel if your group wins. I rather just play by myself. I'm with you TSC,
I sometimes think that if I joined a pool with "naturally Lucky people," I'd be okay, but I have never done it. Now I'm glad I didn't. This lawsuit is enough proof for me. There will be enough issues with family and friends that will call out of the cracks. The one sister I speak to, doesn't believe in the lottery even though she knows I play religiously and my few friends don't know I play. I still never say that I will help family and friends, so if I didn WHEN I win, it will be a surprise to all.
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Dover, Delaware United States Member #19109 July 20, 2005 654 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:18 pm - IP Logged |
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Oh boy! Here comes one of the reasons that agreements should be made in writing. Wrong! Not should be! All Agreements are to be Mandatory for any POOL of any size! The Agreement is to be signed each time you pay/join in the pool! You Pay and then you sign the Mandatory Agreement!
No Pay, No Sign, No Play! End of Story! Keep dreaming the impossible dream, it just may come true! Please remember to support Your Lottery Post Community. 
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United States
Member #59008
February 18, 2008
710 Posts
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| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:26 pm - IP Logged |
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Lottery pools suck for a variety of reasons.Being sued by jealous people that didn't kick in any money to the pool is just one of the reasons.Having to share a jackpot is another reason.
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United States Member #34665 March 1, 2006 184 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 9:59 pm - IP Logged |
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The four further claim they joined with the others in a pool for the Dec. 9 Mega Millions drawing from which some cash winnings allegedly were then used to purchase tickets for the Dec. 12 drawing. The co-workers had the winning numbers for the $207 million Dec. 12 drawing.
The four said they were out of the office and unavailable to contribute to the office pool for the Dec. 12 drawing.
Because they participated in the previous draw, I would have included them, to avoid any hassle in obtaining my jackpot winnings. It was such a large jackpot, in fact more money than they would have ever earned in their entire lives. They would have been all set, now they all have to wait for a judge to determine who gets what.
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Kunming China Member #58390 January 23, 2008 1438 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 10:08 pm - IP Logged |
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Let this be a lesson to all who play in a lottery pool!!!! Always have an agreement and always have the names of the people in the pool and the amount paid BEFORE the drawing. I think most people that play in pools never actually think they are going to win. "WE WANT NOTHING LESS THAN A JACKPOT"
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New Member  Rochester, NY United States Member #50419 February 21, 2007 5 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 10:09 pm - IP Logged |
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I had a good working pool going at my last job. Now that I switched jobs I no longer do it, not because of sharing the prize but because of all the work involved. Before each drawing I would photo copy all the tickets bought by the group, there was twenty of us. I did narrow it down to just six sets of copies. One of the rules was that all small prizes get banked towards a large jackpot such as the one that just played (As it appears they did). Because of that rule there was always money in case one or more of the players was out for some reason. It wouldn't have been fair to lose out because you were sick or on vacation we thought. And that person made up for it the following week. I'm not sure if theirs was one time thing or not, though according to the article, the money to purchase the tickets were from the prevouis winning (NOV 9th) of which they did contribute. Sooooo... It sounds like a weekly pool to me.
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New Member California United States Member #44029 July 22, 2006 9 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 10:12 pm - IP Logged |
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This is the reason I've never been in a lottery pool. I feel for the winners. They have to pay the legal
fees.
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St Francis, WI United States Member #3189 December 27, 2003 149 Posts Online |
| Posted: December 23, 2008, 11:19 pm - IP Logged |
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Whenever I played in a pool, when I was off, I made sure that my money was in BEFORE I left.
And when I ran a pool, I made sure that all regular players got asked.
Often when I knew that they were regular players, I often kicked in for them. I never had a problem collecting.
MarkP
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Minnesota United States Member #2469 October 2, 2003 84 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 24, 2008, 1:01 am - IP Logged |
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From my perspective,i think the four are solely entitle to their shares of winning
for the fact,they stuck it in when they did not win anything.Why cant the money be share evenly amongst them
when whoever the head of their pool never thoght this life changing event was going to occur?
With this economy,their lawyers are going to fight to get 40%
of that pie.
GREED IS A HORRIBLE THING.
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United States Member #15415 May 10, 2005 317 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 24, 2008, 3:09 am - IP Logged |
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Don't let this happen to you! If you're going to run a pool put the rules in writing covering all the bases. Also, don't roll small winners into future draws.
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Indiana United States Member #49185 January 7, 2007 1201 Posts Offline |
| Posted: December 24, 2008, 3:22 am - IP Logged |
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Honestly, I don't think the plaintiffs have a case. The way I see it, you're only included in on a pool if you put in the money for the drawing in question. They didn't for that drawing. Gonna win.
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