An employee at a Circle K store in Arizona is at the center of a controversy after allegedly purchasing a $12.8 million lottery ticket that had been left at the counter overnight, despite knowing its significance. The company insists he should claim the winnings.
According to a complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court, Robert Gaulitza was working on November 24 when a customer requested to have his “The Pick” lottery numbers re-entered. Employees had printed $85 worth of $1 tickets, but customers only paid $60, leaving 25 tickets behind. They went untouched in the store until the following morning.
Gaulitza reportedly learned that his store had sold a winning ticket and scanned the leftover tickets, eventually discovering the jackpot winner, which had the numbers 3, 13, 14, 15, 19, and 26.
He took a quick step, left his shift, removed his Circle K shirt, and purchased the winning ticket from another employee for $10, as reported by a local newspaper. Subsequently, Circle K management was informed of the situation and instructed that the tickets be kept at corporate headquarters while a court decides who rightfully owns the $12.8 million ticket.
The complaint against Gaulitza and the Arizona Lottery points to Arizona administrative law that asserts retailers have rights to unsold lottery tickets that customers don’t pay for. While Circle K did not make a claim for ownership, they did request the court determine the competing claims.
The Arizona Lottery itself hadn’t encountered many previous incidents of conflicting claims between stores and employees regarding lottery winnings. A spokesperson mentioned this was an unusual case and they were not aware of past litigation that matched this scenario.
This particular jackpot was the fourth-largest from “The Pick” in Arizona’s history and the biggest since 2019. The true winner needs to claim the prize by May 23, which is 180 days post-drawing. Retailers in Arizona enjoy a 6.5% commission on lottery sales and businesses that sell jackpot-winning tickets over $1 million receive a reward of $10,000.
