Windsor pizza delivery driver sues friends who left him out of $1M lottery prize
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A pizza delivery worker in Windsor, Ont., is suing his friends after failing to get a slice of their $1-million lottery win.
Philip Tsotsos’ pals, all of whom are named in the suit, won a $1-million Maxmillion prize on a Lotto Max ticket from last June.
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Tsotsos believes he deserves a cut of the prize, and is suing the group of 16 for $70,000 and other costs, accusing the group of “stealing his dreams.”
He told CBC News, “Their dreams came true. Why should they steal mine?”
Tsotsos also wants to be declared the 17th winning ticket holder — even though he didn’t technically pay.
According to Tsotsos, he had left his job at an auto-parts delivery company, but remained in the lottery pool with his former colleagues.
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Their gaming was put on hold during the pandemic but started back up in March 2021. He said he was approached in June for a “major” and asked if he wanted in.
He did but didn’t pay for the tickets right away — something Tsotsos did often as the tickets worked on a credit system. He said he previously owed money, sometimes owing as much as $100, but he always paid it back.
At the time of the big win, he had a tab of $30 and was told by the group’s organizer to repay the debt plus another $10 to stay in the group.
Tsotsos offered to pay the $40 by the Friday of that week, joking, “Just take it out of our winnings when we win.”
However, the lawyer representing the group of 16, told CBC, “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.”
Tsotsos said he only found out about their win in October on social media.
“Why wouldn’t they tell me they won?” he asked. “These guys are like family to me… that hurt more than anything.”
Divided among 16, each member took home $62,500, but if he was included in the pool, they would have each received $58,000.
“This is all over a difference of $4,500.”
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