Tennessee Woman Sues Over "Test" Lottery Numbers
By PAT NEWCOMB - Huntsville Times
Friday, July 22, 2005
Kelly Davis says she suffered when told she had not won
Kelly Davis of Harvest knew exactly how she was going to spend the $90 million she thought she had won in the Tennessee Education Lottery.
"I'm paying bills off, taking care of my parents," Davis said Thursday, remembering her reaction when she thought she had the correct numbers to win the multistate Powerball drawing on April 21, 2004.
Her elation quickly turned to disappointment, however, when she called the lottery's Nashville offices on April 22 and was told that what she heard - the numbers 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 and Powerball number 06 with one winner - had been a test of the system. She hadn't heard the actual winning numbers and there was no Powerball winner that drawing.
But Davis said there was nothing on the recording to tell callers the system was in a test mode, and she's suing the lottery corporation.
"I just want them to step up to the plate and recognize they were negligent, (so) that the consumer calling in (can) know they're getting the right information," she said.
A Huntsville attorney, Clement J. Cartron, filed the lawsuit on Davis' behalf in circuit court in Davidson County (Nashville), Tenn., requesting a jury trial to determine damages for Davis' "short-term physical discomfort and temporary total psychological injury."
"I suffered," said Davis, 37. "I suffered."
Cartron said he is not representing Davis, but filed the claim this past April 21 so Davis' suit would not miss the one-year statute of limitations.
Davis said she is talking with a Tennessee attorney to represent her in the case.
Kym Gerlock, spokeswoman for the Tennessee Education Lottery, said she could not comment on the specifics of Davis' lawsuit.
She said the state participates in the Powerball drawing along with 29 jurisdictions, with the drawings taking place in Iowa every Wednesday and Saturday at 9:59 p.m.
"As soon as the numbers are verified, we post them on our voice mail systems and put them on our Web site," said Gerlock.
She could not say what was on the recording on April 21, 2004, when Davis made her call around midnight.
But in a letter to Susan McGowan, a Fayetteville, Tenn., lawyer who contacted the company for Davis, Andrew Morin, vice president of legal services for the Tennessee Education Lottery Corp., did address the recording Davis heard.
In the letter, dated July 29, 2004, Morin said the lottery company had recorded the "numbers 1-2-3-4-5 and the Powerball number of 6" to test the voice system before Tennessee's participation in the Powerball drawing.
In fact, Tennessee's first involvement in the Powerball drawing was that April 21, the date Davis bought her $1 ticket in Ardmore, Tenn. She chose a sequence of numbers she had used many times in other states where she has played the Powerball lottery.
When she called about midnight on April 21, Davis would not have been able to "access the winning numbers" from that night's drawing, said Morin.
He said no one can claim a lottery prize without presenting the original winning ticket for validation, and her ticket was not a winner.
All that is beside the point to Davis, who feels the Tennessee Lottery owes her money for the letdown she had when she found out she hadn't won the Powerball drawing.
She's not expecting $90 million, she said, but an apology won't be good enough.
"It's a disappointment you can't express," said Davis. "Total disappointment."