Leslie Underwood, a waitress in Arkansas, filed a lawsuit earlier this week against her co-worker who she says skipped town with half of her $300,000 lottery winnings.
She’s asking a judge to freeze the winnings until it can be determined in court whether she has a right to any of the money.
via NYDN:
The manager at Sportman’s drive-in gifted Underwood and fellow waitress Mandy Vanhouten several scratch-off lottery tickets as Christmas gifts on Dec. 22.
Underwood said the pair had agreed to split their winnings, but that her pal instead cashed the winning $300,000 scratch-off and never returned to work.
Vanhouten in an Arkansas Scholarship Lottery news release claimed to have purchased the ticket at a G&B Liquor store.
She said she hoped the prize would “make her life easier.”
Underwood’s lawyers argued the two entered into an “oral agreement” when they agreed to share the winnings.
“Pursuant to their agreement, Plaintiff and Defendant both understood that their agreement was for their mutual benefit and that their agreement allowed for mutual control of any winning tickets, and that their agreement was based on their mutual understanding that they would share in the potential proceeds of the winning tickets,” according to the suit.
Underwood additionally argues she is entitled to damages equivalent to “50% of the monetary proceeds from the winning ticket.”
A spokesperson for the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery previously told the Daily News that the issue is out of their hands, since they’ve already handed Vanhouten the check.
Spokesperson Scott Hardin in an interview with Arkansas Matters added the agency does not get involved in mediation.
Let’s hope the court will be able to work this out — if not, Mandy might have to catch hands.
