FORT LEE, N.J. — A Fort Lee, New Jersey, woman who says she thought fortune had smiled on her with a $250,000 winner in a 2009 Mega Millions drawing is suing WABC-TV for allegedly broadcasting the wrong winning numbers and leaving her devastated when she discovered she had won nothing.
Rakel Daniele is seeking $75,000 in damages from WABC-TV, American Broadcasting Co., the Walt Disney Co. and an unidentified "Jane Doe" in a lawsuit that was transferred to federal District Court in Newark last week from state Superior Court in Hackensack.
Daniele's lawyer, Evan Baker, did not return several calls on Thursday and Friday seeking comment.
James Altieri, the Florham Park attorney representing ABC and Disney, said it is "the company's policy not to comment on pending litigation."
According to Daniele's lawsuit, WABC-TV, the ABC network station in New York, broadcast the winning numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with the mega ball 12, for the multistate Mega Millions lottery on June 19, 2009.
Daniele held a lottery ticket with the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, with the mega ball 6, the lawsuit says.
Despite the fact that the numbers WABC-TV broadcast were wrong, the suit asserts, it compounded Daniele's alleged pain by "negligently, carelessly, recklessly and/or intentionally" rebroadcasting the erroneous numbers the next day.
The correct Mega Millions numbers for June 19, 2009, were 4, 9, 12, 16 and 46, with a mega ball of 44, according to the Mega Millions website.
Daniele was under the impression that she had won $250,000 as a result of the broadcast, the suit states, adding that she was "severely damaged" by relying on the "false and incorrect" lottery results.
The company should have known the numbers were incorrect, the suit states.
The broadcast and rebroadcast of the wrong Mega Millions numbers went "beyond all possible bounds of decency, and were atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," it asserts.
Are u kidding me? Let's say it all together now: douche bag. She should be slapped for even bringing that s**t to a judge.
another frivolous lawsuit
I agree with you, she should be slapped twice!!!
Normally I would agree with the comments posted above.
But why would the TV station broadcast 1,2,3,4,5 ? Looks like someone at the TV station wanted to have some fun.
and shame on the lady for playing 1,2,3,4,5, MB 6. Could happen, but unlikely.
So, in the end she wouldn't have won anyways, and shame on the TV station for pulling such a prank.
In all likelyhood, what was broadcast was a 'template' with the numbers in those positions as 'place holders'..Makes for simple 'copy/paste' when putting the numbers in..Accidentally showed the template..so, the TV station had an 'oops' moment..This woman needs a boot up her ass...
A big boot. What she is really doing is to try to get them to offer her a "settlement" which she will gladly accept. Poor dummie.
Me thinks she was already Damaged before all this came about. You have to give her credit she knows how to count to 5. She is just a money grubber, and wants quick cash. If she wins this, watch how many more low lifes are going to try to pull this scam on the lottery for quick cash. It's a shame that everyone is out for a quick buck these days.
She should be sued for be "Stupid"...!!!!
Really!!!!!
"The broadcast and rebroadcast of the wrong Mega Millions numbers went "beyond all possible bounds of decency, and were atrocious, and utterly intolerable in a civilized community," it asserts."
If broadcasting the wrong numbers caused her pain and suffering, why wouldn't rebroadcasting the correct numbers over and over again cause pain and suffering to all the non-winner?
Just when you thought you saw it all.
If one could sue the TV stations every time they broadcast inaccurate "info" ...
She may have a case, though. Especially if it is true that they broadcast the wrong numbers AND she lost something or something happened to her as a result.
I'm not saying it's the right thing to do.
True that!!!!
ALso, the regulations require that the ticket holder get the ticket "validated". That is the Key to this lawsuit. The state will counter and remind her and the judge of this. Her case will be dismissed with NO compensation.
The newstation will receive a harsh reminder that broadcasting does require accuracy. They really should have done a retraction and a public announcement of the error to clarify things.
Our station that airs it had that same glitch, within ten minutes they aired the CORRECT numbers and made a public announcement that they are responsible to have their tickets validated thru the state lottery system.
Despite the fact that the numbers WABC-TV broadcast were wrong, the suit asserts, it compounded Daniele's alleged pain by "negligently, carelessly, recklessly and/or intentionally" rebroadcasting the erroneous numbers the next day.
The key to her lawsuit is the rebroadcasting of the wrong numbers again the following day!
Right, what other "news" has incorrectly been reported by journalists who refuse to double check information BEFORE reporting/broadcasting!
I am devastated that I did not win the PowerBall last nite!
They should have picked my numbers ............................................
.............................
I think all of you that say the lady is stupid for the lawsuit are JEALOUS!!! I think she SHOULD WIN the lawsuit!!!! The news stations should NEVER have broadcast the wrong numbers the first time, and DEFENITLY shouldn't have done it the next morning! If I was her, I would be going for $500,000 - My $250,000 that I should have won and $250,000 in damages by the station!!!
FACE IT... you all are just hating because it didn't happen to you... your JEALOUS!!! And anyone else that should have won... even for a $1 should be in on the lawsuit. Teach the TV station a lesson!
Oh and about her trying to get rich quick or looking for quick cash... obviously ALL OF US are in for the same if you play the lottery.
My validation would be the numbers matching what the TV station broadcasted. What if she had no other means to validate the ticket? That "ticket validation" crap is them trying to cover their own @ss.
Your KEY to the lawsuit is simple... the TV station is guity of NEGLIGENCE! The station failed to correct their error in any REASONABLE amount of time, and in the process caused her pain and suffering.
I hope the TV station owner has the balls to not settle with her
No other means of validating the tickets? Are you kidding me? How about calling the lottery winning numbers line? How about going on line? How about going to a retailer to have the ticket checked? How about checking the numbers in the newspaper?
The quality of the stupidity of some people is AMAZING!!!!
I've heard that combinations like 1-2-3-4-5-(6) are extremely common, and tens, hundreds, if not thousands of people (depending on geography and popularity of the game) play that kind of combination. If the judge did allow that suit to go through, he may set a precedence that results in many more people following 'suit' (pun intended) and trying to cash in on and easy court award.
She obviously had her ticket validated as worthless some where that was responsible for paying and validating lottery tickets, the radio station was never meant to be a validator of lottery tickets and I hope they sue her and her lawyer for the cost of defending themselves against such a scam.
How about the pain and suffering I suffer every time they announce the pick 3 number and I didn't have it? Or I do have it but on the opposite drawing?
If she had NO OTHER MEANS, this could possibly be not having a phone, or having a computer to go online, or maybe a car to get to the retailer. There are people out there that don't have these things. Either way, she was still under the impression she won.
Before you judge the stupidity of others... I suggest you judge your own.
Like I said before.... PURE JEALOUSY!!!!
If they announced YOUR numbers, and then they came back and said "oh sorry, we messed up. Those weren't the winning numbers, you really didn't win." I think you would be pretty pist off yourself. And probably be suing as well.
I feel sorry for you, I truely do. And I think that has happened to a few of us. Which is why I ALWAYS play the same numbers.
Just not having the right numbers is painful, but nobody caused you to believe that you had the winning ones... which is what this case is all about.
A SCAM??? She did nothing wrong! It was the station that is in the wrong...
And your right, she probably did eventually have it validated as worthless, but was still AFTER the station led her to believe that she was a winner.
I have watched the evening news and have seen the pick 3 and pick 4 numbers on the news crawler at the bottom of the screen and known they were wrong. How did I know? Because I had called the lottery winning numbers line earlier in the day. So yes, the station goofed. It does happen. However I DID NOT have any "pain" from it. (I was trying to be funny in my earlier post.) So this just proves once again what many other LP members have said before. Check your tickets yourself and sign the ticket, before giving it to anyone. In case of a large amount verify the numbers more than once.
yikes, mis prints happen in newspapers all the time, we are sorry, here is the correct info, now lets move on. she was not harmed in any way shape or form .
well, I think they will give her something since they did repeat it twice...to quiet her down.
She may get 5,000-50,000 for her grieve...I mean she did think she won, probaly started to make plans in her head what to do with the money etc..then the big diappointment.
For years lottery "experts" have said hundreds of people play 1-2-3-4-5 in every drawing so if she suffered pain so did all the other players.
You make it sound like the TV station deliberately repeated the wrong numbers just to stick to her. It was a simple mistake and there are certainly many other ways to verify actual results.
If they settle with her, all the other players with the same numbers will want some too.
Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, Whoa..., Now wait just a Good Darn Minute. All of you are approaching this from the stance and point-of-view of the pro-player, of someone who plays constantly and knows all the regulations and rules. So back the f... a bit from this lady that for all we know is less knowledgable and not as frequent a lottery player as the rest of us. She is an individual player not a corporate entity that should and will be held responsible according to law and regulation.
Think about it, if you went on a rollercoster ride and they announced that it was safe one day, and the next the other, from a legitimate sub-entity that is somehow affiliated or gains money by advertising such comments or statements... and you went on the ride when the rest of us knew it was unsafe, and nothing happened to you and you enjoyed the ride but later on realized you could have died...
THIS IS NO DIFFERENT.
But then some rollecoster know-it-all-bluff says well you should have noticed no one was on the ride... or you could tell the rigs were faulty, or this or that, tit-for-tat, absolute non-sense! If you are associated or affiliated with it, you are responsible. From the park designer/builder, to the theme park, to the persons allowing admittance to that particular ride. Just think about it. Get out of your stinking, staunch, putrid lottery-box, and start looking at things more realistically. Like Really.
Corporations and Television entities need accuracy and need to inform legitimately, if not for all the money spent on cable companies to sponsor good quaility programming with accurate content. The next day and still on with the same inaccurate statements is no excuse, and I do feel sorry for this uninformed woman if her life was upset, which it would be, if you legitimately thought you had won a large amount of money on a hope and a dream on the back of one dollar lottery slip turned-ticked-turned-out-winner-turned-out-to-be-false-worthless-piece-of-paper. The faster you people hold everyone ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS, no matter who they are, the sooner this country will get back on Her feet and back onto prosperity. Down with the can't-does, and won't does, - the incompetents in positions of leadership and power, and on to the deserving, the persevering, the hardworking, the willing, and the non-irrational or prejudiced competent working members of this society, who can actually contriubute something and do so with a smile, courteously, IN STRIDE, WITH QUALITY, AND WITH WHEREWITHAL! LONG LIVE MY FELLOW AMERICANS WHO SHARE THIS VISION OF THE ONCE-TRUE AMERICA AND ONCE QUALITY AMERICAN MENTALITY, CUSTOMS, AND STANDARDS. Who's with me?
<snip>! I think I will take part in this law suit too. I'm going to tell them I had the winning numbers and threw my ticket away because they
"negligently, carelessly, recklessly and/or intentionally" rebroadcasted the erroneous numbers the next day.
God I hate facetious, sarcastic comments, one day something along these lines may happen to you, and when you cry wolf, the wolf bit me or almost did, put him down, if they rest of Americans are as cynical as you are, they are going to sell you down the river of self-pity and ridicule. Get a grip and post accordingly, that is, IF YOU CAN.
BIG D*mn IF.
Perhaps the dentist that would have been putting all those new gold teef in her monkey mouth should consider suing also? And how about the local Cadillac dealer, not even going to mention all the crack dealers that lost major sales.
Matter of fact, I think I will sue........ I'm very traumatized by the sight of this nitwit jumping around in her living room down in the hood screaming at the top of her lungs; "Baby, oh baby, we done got rich, gonna be moving on up!"
sad innit.......
One day if something along these lines happens to me, I am going throw my ticket in the trash and get on with my day. It's people like you
that give idiots like this the money they don't deserve.
Can anyone describe the pain? Where does it hurt? The only pain she will feel is in her pocket book when her lawyer sends her his bill. Lets see, she bought a lottery ticket, the tv station announces the wrong numbers by mistake, she thought she won, but didn't. This warrants a law suit? Would you like to be sued every time you made a mistake? I think not.
What's with the racial stero-typing??
Some nigga step on your corns, or piss in your cornflakes to send you on a tangent or what?
Or did sista gurl, <if she is black> <we don't know>, turn you down now you're pissed??
What does race have to do with this?
Last time I checked there are dumbazz folks in all races, nationalities, and ages..
Now go marinade son...........wit yo purfek self.......
When I read the story my first thought was that people as stupid as her are exceedingly rare. I stand corrected.
This is the same thing that happens in Las Vegas.
A person wins on the penny slots that shows 1 million, but due to human error by not updating the machines for the true pay out of 50k....
So the real question is can you really sue over human error?
Plus any one of us that was in the same situation would have went NUTTS!!!! If it was your numbers that was drawn, I mean really who would have ran to
the Internet to check after you just saw it ran on tv?
Maybe after you " Do a little dance, make a little love, basically get down to night"...lol.
But I agree the number combo would have made me think again... (1-6) to good to be true.....
we don't need you here !!!!!
imagine if she would of quit her job really thinking she had won the jack pot
this should be posted on fml lol