A man has sued his friends from his previous workplace after they won the lottery only to refuse to share their winnings with him.
Philip Tsotsos is a pizza delivery driver from Ontario, Canada, who is suing 16 of his friends for $70,000 after they won $1 million in the lottery.
As the disappointed man explained, he was part of a lottery pool consisting of 17 members who played together to increase their chance of winning for several years.
When the group won the $1 million Maxmillion jackpot, however, they counted Tsotsos out of the equation saying he didn’t pay for his share of the winning ticket.
“Mr Tsotsos did not pay to play, so we deny that he is entitled to any of the relief that he is seeking, and we’ll be vigorously defending the claim. In this instance, he did not play and he was not included,” the group’s attorney said.
Tsotsos, however, insists that he was still part of the group when they won the jackpot. While he admitted his bill wasn’t settled in time, he explained that payments worked on a credit system and that he usually paid for his share after the draws.
As Tsotsos added, his tab amounted to as much as $100 at one time. He always, however, settled his debt even though the group didn’t win.
At the time of the group’s recent win, the delivery driver reportedly had an existing debt of $30 plus an additional $10 he was told to pay to remain in the group.
Just before the fortunate draw, Tsotsos allegedly joked by telling the group’s organizer to “just take it [$40] out of our winnings when we win.”
The organizer responded by joking he might charge a high-interest rate should that happen.
Shortly after the exchange, however, Tsotsos was shocked to find out that the group had won $1 million and failed to inform him or recognize him as a member of their group.
“Why wouldn’t they tell me they won? These guys are like family to me. Their dreams came true. Why should they steal mine?” he said.
Tsotsos has since launched a lawsuit in which he named every single one of the group’s remaining 16 members. He also demanded to be paid $70,000 as the 17th member of the pool.
While Tsotsos insists that he would have paid off his debt after the draw as he did previously, the group has since turned down his calls for compensation saying he isn’t entitled to a part of the winnings because he didn’t pay.
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