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On Friday morning, lawyers for Circle K and the Arizona Lottery appeared at a virtual hearing in Maricopa County Superior Court in the ongoing case about a contested lottery ticket that hit the $12.8 million jackpot in November. But two people with possible valid claims to the ticket — Robert Gawlitza, the former Circle K store manager who “bought” the winning ticket the day after the drawing, and the unknown customer who requested but did not pay for the ticket the day before — were absent.
In fact, it was revealed during the hearing, nobody is sure where they are.
Gawlitza is no longer employed by the company, said attorney Amanda Gray, who is representing Circle K in the suit. It’s not clear when or why Gawlitza’s employment ended, or if it’s related to his actions in the lottery matter. A Circle K spokesperson did not immediately return a message seeking more information. At the hearing, Gray said Circle K has unsuccessfully attempted to serve Gawlitza with the lawsuit on two occasions.
“We have at third spot we’re going to try,” Gray said, going on to add that she may ask Judge Joseph Kreamer to allow for alternative service. “We’ve provided all the filings in the case to him via email.”
Circle K’s lawsuit claimed that Gawlitza came to work at the Circle K store at Bell Road and 56th Street in Phoenix the morning after the drawing and realized that the winning ticket was sitting, unsold, behind the register. He then clocked out and changed out of his uniform — presumably to avoid Arizona Lottery regulations that prohibit lottery vendors from purchasing tickets while on the clock — and “bought” the ticket for $10. Circle K confiscated it and ultimately sued, asking a court to determine the ticket’s rightful owner.
It’s not clear why Gawlitza would be ducking service of the lawsuit, given that participating in it would be his best chance of claiming the $12.8 million jackpot. Phoenix New Times has been unable to reach Gawlitza, despite repeated attempts made to phone numbers and emails associated with him. A Facebook profile belonging to him no longer accepts messages from most users.
How the unsold ticket was printed in the first place concerns the other, unknown party who may have a claim to the ticket. The day of the Nov. 24 drawing, a customer walked into the store and asked for $85 worth of tickets for The Pick, a game in which players try to match six numbers that are drawn three times a week. But the customer paid for only 60, and the remaining 25 tickets “were set aside but were not sold to another customer,” the lawsuit says.
Arizona Lottery regulations state that once printed, those tickets are legal wagers. Because lottery vendors, including Circle K, pay money to the lottery for each ticket printed, regulations generally treat printed but unsold tickets as the property of the vendor. But Circle K seems to anticipate the person who requested but did not pay for the winning ticket may have a claim — if they can find out who that person is.
The Friday hearing revealed that Circle K has a Bank of America debit card number for the person, believed to be a woman. However, Bank of America has been less than helpful in tracking down that person’s name and contact information, stonewalling Circle K on multiple occasions. To remedy that situation, Kreamer said on Friday that he would sign an order compelling Bank of America to produce the information required to serve the customer with the lawsuit. Bank of America will have 10 days to comply.
“That information is critical to be able to identify Jane Doe,” Gray said.
Until Gawlitza and the unknown customer are identified and served, the lawsuit to determine who owns the winning ticket seems to be in a holding pattern. “We’re nowhere near that,” Kreamer said of making a ruling in the case. “We don’t even have service yet on the parties that need to be present.” But one looming deadline no longer hangs over the matter.
The day before the hearing, the Arizona Lottery sent a letter to Circle K stating that it would suspend the 180-day claim period for the winning ticket, which was set to expire May 23. Per the letter, which was included as an exhibit in the court case, Circle K turned the ticket over to the lottery, which verified its authenticity. The Arizona Lottery will hold the ticket until the legal question of its rightful owner is resolved.
That was the relief that Circle K requested in the lawsuit. On Friday, Kreamer said he’d grant the request anyway, issuing a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the claim period from expiring while the case is pending.
