Thomas Noftall, 27, was overjoyed to win $135,000 on four scratch-off lottery tickets in Toronto, but the lottery is now saying that tickets were part of a “misprint” and it will not honor the prize. It would make for an interesting case since, regardless of the error, the lottery sold the tickets with the guarantee of an award for the correct numbers.
The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corp. in Toronto originally, told Noftall that he would be paid but then he says “One guy pulled me into his office and said, ‘Between me and you, they’re going to void your tickets. They’re not going to pay.'”
It appears that there were 1,000 misprinted tickets. In past cases, courts have been sympathetic to such cases where a lottery or casino can show a machine or print failure. However, such errors are particularly problematic with a ticket offered and purchased on the understanding that matched numbers will guarantee a prize.
Casinos routinely refuse to honor big payouts are that the result of machine error. In 2007, a man won $1.6 million on a nickel slot machine only to be denied recovery. He is suing.
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Of course that is only about $100,000 or so in US dollars. Of course, that may go down in a hurry. I hope he is successful in his suit. It is an uphill battle.
I don’t see this as a torts problem; more of a first year contracts problem.
I hope he wins. That’s ridiculous. It’s not his fault they screwed up.