Timothy Schultz:

Robert Gawlitza:

Uh, it was first brought to my attention from one of my assistants. She got, received a text message saying that our store had, had won, sold the ticket. Channel 15 news report saying, hey, we, we sold it. And I was like, Oh, well, that's really cool. I've never been a part of the store that sold such a big winner before. Um, so I thought that was a pretty cool thing. I went to talk to my fellow store managers and was boasting about it because it's a pretty cool thing.

Timothy Schultz:

And then once you knew this, what happened next? Did you, you went to the store at one point, and...

Robert Gawlitza:

No, I was at the store. Oh you were at the store. I was at the store the whole day of this this whole thing. I came to the store and I was at that the store of the whole day. Never left it.

Timothy Schultz:

You knew that one of them was this $12.8 million winner. Before you purchased some of the remaining tickets, did you know that this was, that one of them was the winner that you were purchasing?

Robert Gawlitza:

The one that I purchased, I was aware it had the winning numbers in it. Regardless of whether or not it was a winning ticket or not, it was an unwritten store policy for me to actually purchase the leftover lottery tickets from the night before.

Timothy Schultz:

What was your understanding of the store policy?

Robert Gawlitza:

Well, the reason why we buy the un-purchased lottery tickets from the night before is to balance the books. So when it was brought to my attention that there were some extra tickets left over from the night before, I was in the process of doing the store paperwork. So I went to the front to see if these tickets were up there. While speaking with my assistant manager and she explained where they were because she was working the night before. When I discovered that one of the tickets that I had to purchase was the winning ticket, I did purchase it, because regardless I had to purchase the winning ticket, whether it was winning or losing. I then afterwards proceeded to contact Circle K and find out how they would like to proceed forward with this, because I've never had this happen before. Usually you buy the losing tickets and then we just rip them up and throw them away. But this one was a winning ticket, so I was... Trying to find what am I allowed to do, what am I supposed to do from them.

Timothy Schultz:

And what were you told?

Robert Gawlitza:

I asked for permission if I was allowed to purchase said ticket and through text message conversations and my superior, my district manager, gave me authorization to purchase the ticket. I then proceed the question to make sure that she was aware of what ticket we're talking about and she knew what ticket were talking about because she proceeded to then ask for, hey, don't forget me, I'm not rich either. So she knew exactly what ticket that we're talking about.

Timothy Schultz:

Had you seen other employees purchase tickets in this way before?

Robert Gawlitza:

Yes, yes, that's that's actually what why we have six affidavits. Actually, excuse me, seven affidavids right now. So there, there are, this this happens all over all over. So it's not this, you know localized just in my store. This happens at other stores.

Timothy Schultz:

Why did you clock out and remove your shirt before making this particular...

Robert Gawlitza:

There's a store policy not to be on the clock when you purchase lottery tickets. I have to clock out, make sure I'm following the guidelines. I remove my shirt to that way there will be no indications later on or questioning of were you or were you not clocked out. If I'm in my regular street clothes, there's no questioning it. I'm not in Circle K attire. But I never went home, I never changed my clothes, I then drove back to the store. I was in the store the whole day. When I discovered this, I wanted to follow corporate policies. I took off my shirt, I clocked out, went to the front, purchased it like a normal customer, came back in, I clock in and went about my day. This is what would have happened if the ticket was a losing ticket. It's the same thing that would have happened.

Timothy Schultz:

Hmm, and what was going through your mind at the time?

Robert Gawlitza:

Confusion, like like I don't I've never been in a situation where one of these tickets is won. It's always been a losing ticket. So I was just trying to find out. How do we proceed? What where do we go in the order of trying to get this, us to move forward.

Timothy Schultz:

And I want to bring in your attorney, Josh Kolsrud, real quick, because Circle K's written policy says employees can't purchase lottery tickets while they're on duty. But can you explain why you believe this was a legal sale?

Josh Kolsrud:

Yeah, and thank you. So Circle K has had a long, settled policy that requires its employees to purchase accidentally or mistakenly printed lottery tickets. The reason why is that the Arizona lottery says that once a ticket is printed, that It belongs to the vendor. So the vendor is responsible for paying the Arizona lottery for the ticket. And just like racetracks, if a teller at a racetrack prints out a ticket for a horse race or a dog race, and it's a mistaken ticket, they're responsible for purchasing it. So this is common practice in the gambling industry. And we recently hired an expert who will be testifying to that. But Circle K, along with the industry standards, had this policy to hold employees accountable for printing out tickets that went unsold. Because what they're supposed to do is they're supposed to accept the money first before ringing up the transaction. They're supposed to receive the money, have it paid for, and then print the ticket. So in order to stop this behavior, Circle K follows this policy and puts the onus on the employee to pay for it, puts the liability on the employees to pay it. And Circle K now is saying, well, that's fine, but that's still our ticket. When they found out that the, the ticket was worth $12.8 million, even though they had already given Robert permission to purchase the ticket, they reneged on what they said and demanded that Robert turn the ticket over to them, which he did, and then unceremoniously fired him a couple months later for violating their policy.

Timothy Schultz:

He was fired for violating the policy of having purchased the ticket?

Josh Kolsrud:

Yes, their policy. They fired Robert for following their policy.

Timothy Schultz:

Robert, how did that feel when that happened and how were you informed of that?

Robert Gawlitza:

Well, I think they came into my store. Pretty much the regional directors who terminated me and he explained to me that they feel even though I follow their policy and clocked out and purchased a ticket, they felt I was still supposed to be on the clock at that time, so therefore I broke their policy. During that time I was off the clock, I wasn't paid. I'm not on salary. I am on hourly pay, so I don't understand how I was supposed to still be on that clock at time. So it's a little bit, you know, I felt a little betrayed and hurt because I was, all these years I've always followed the guidelines and the rules of the store and the company. And that's all I'm trying to do is clear my name. I did the right thing that day. I followed their rules and their policies. And instead I've been thrown under the bus.

Timothy Schultz:

This has been a few months now and do you have a job now or are you still?

Robert Gawlitza:

Uh, nothing concrete, nothing, you know, like a permanent job, no.

Josh Kolsrud:

Explain the difficulties of how long it's taken you to even find a job and what's happened.

Robert Gawlitza:

Yeah, so pretty much after the termination, my wife's been the one paying all the bills right now. I've been applying for jobs at other locations, and pretty much what happens is once I've submitted the application for the job, I'll get a response back basically questioning, argue this person, because my last name, there's only three people in the United States with that last name. It's just my parents and I. So when I apply for jobs, they Google my last name and they go, oh, he's the guy with the lawsuit issue with the lottery ticket. And then once they identify that's who I am, then they kind of move on past me. Well, we've filled the position or we've hired someone else or we're going in another direction or one of those reasonings as to why they won't proceed any further. But that's after they've questioned, like, are you this person that's in the news? Yes. Yes, that's me. Oh, I see. And then you get that answer. So it's like, obviously that's why you're giving me this answer is because of this case. It's been a little hard trying to find work.

Timothy Schultz:

Would you say that this legal fight for $12.8 million ticket is about the $12 million, or your reputation, or both of those things?

Robert Gawlitza:

For Circle K, I feel it's about the money. For myself, I think it's my name. It's about, you know, I don't want to tarnish my father's name. I feel like it's been run through the mud right now. Whenever someone hears the last name, Gawlitza, this is what they're going to think of. That upsets me, because I'm an honorable man. I work very hard. That's how I was raised by my parents. And for me to be betrayed, like I did some horrific thing wrong. You know, that hurts, you know, because I follow the rules. I was compliant that whole day. I don't understand why we had to go down this road, why we couldn't talk like adults about this. So that's what all this is about for me, is this clearing my name.

Timothy Schultz:

Why did you give the ticket to Circle K if you believed that it belonged to you?

Robert Gawlitza:

I gave them the ticket because I was trying to be compliant. They were demanding the ticket be handed over to them. You know, regardless of whatever's going on with the lottery winnings, I still need a job. I still needed to provide for my family. You know I'd never been in this situation before so I wanted to do the right thing. So that's why I handed it over to them is trying to figure out how do we proceed.

Timothy Schultz:

Josh, several current and former employees of Circle K have provided sworn statements, affidavits, supporting Robert's account of this ticket purchase practice. What have they said, and why is this so important in this case?

Josh Kolsrud:

You know, we have, you know, we've filed six affidavits, we have seven now, and an expert witness. And they all basically say the same thing, that Circle K had and does still have a policy that requires its employees to purchase accidentally or mistakenly printed lottery tickets that go unsold. And... They're there to show that this policy did exist, even though it wasn't written down in the employee handbook. So in order to overcome what's called a motion for summary judgment, which in layman's terms is a motion to dismiss the case, we have to show there is some evidence of a fact that's contra- that's in in dispute. And this is the main dispute really of the entire lawsuit because if it can be shown that Circle K did force its employees to purchase these tickets, they are going to have a tough time proving to a judge or a jury that the sale wasn't valid, that the purchase wasn't valid. And so that's why it's important to have those affidavits.

Timothy Schultz:

Are they claiming that the $12.8 million prize should ultimately go to Circle K?

Josh Kolsrud:

They have a filing that is due this week and I would suggest that you look at that filing to see exactly what their position is going to be. So the way that it worked so far procedurally is that Circle K seized the ticket and then filed a motion asking the court for what's called a declaratory judgment. To determine who the rightful owner was. Now, of course, reading their motion, it's very clear that they think they deserve it. But they haven't addressed our arguments yet, and I don't want to speculate on what they are or are not going to argue before they do it.

Timothy Schultz:

So you mentioned a little bit about where the case stands right now, but what happens next?

Josh Kolsrud:

So once Circle K responds to our counterclaims and answer this week, the judge will likely set a schedule for deadlines. And the most important deadline is going to be the motion for summary judgment that Circle K is likely going to file. And if we survive that, the court will then set this case for a jury trial probably sometime early next year.

Timothy Schultz:

Arizona lottery prizes typically, my understanding is that they have a claim deadline usually. What's happened with the deadline for this ticket in this case? Is the $12.8 million protected while litigation continues?

Josh Kolsrud:

Good question. So, Arizona does have a statute of limitations, so to speak, on claiming a winning lottery ticket, and that is 180 days or six months. Now, Circle K did everybody who's claiming the ticket a favor when they argued successfully that the judge should get rid of the deadline and then require the Arizona lottery to follow the judge's instructions. So what that means is the Arizona Lottery no longer has a deadline in this case and will do whatever the court says regarding the ownership of the ticket.

Timothy Schultz:

So, Robert, while all of this is happening right now in this process, what's going through your mind? I mean, what are you going through? You mentioned financially, but emotionally and with yourself.

Robert Gawlitza:

Just a lot of prayer, spending a lot of time with my family, trying to figure out how they get by every single month, how they're getting through the next month. Still applying for jobs, still trying to, you know, find something out there that someone will say yes. This has been difficult.

Timothy Schultz:

And what's the one thing that you want people watching to most understand about what has happened?

Robert Gawlitza:

I was just following the corporate policies. I was doing the right thing that day. Like I do every other day when I worked for the company for 17 years. I didn't do anything different. The only thing that was different that day from the past 17 years is it was a winning lottery ticket. That's the only thing that was a different. So I just want to clear my name. I was trying to do the right things.

Timothy Schultz:

And if the court ultimately determines that the ticket does belong to you, what would that mean to you and what, what would you do with the money?

Robert Gawlitza:

I aint been thinking about the money, honestly, so the money's the furthest thing from my mind right now.

Timothy Schultz:

This is a very interesting case and I am so appreciative of your time, both of you, Robert and Josh, but is there anything else that you want to say today about this case or your experience Robert that I haven't asked about or maybe I don't even know about enough have to ask that you just wanted to say today?

Robert Gawlitza:

No, I think I said pretty much everything, you know, just trying to clear my name.

Timothy Schultz:

Okay. And Josh, is there anything else you wanted to say today?

Josh Kolsrud:

No, but thank you so much for having us on your awesome show, much appreciated.

Timothy Schultz:

Oh, thank you very much. I really appreciate your time and I wish for a quick resolution. So thank you, very much, I really appreciate your time today. Thank you. Thank you, sir. Yeah, thank you. Circle K was contacted for comment and did not respond by the time of publication.