I bought $12.8m lottery ticket but lost my job and now wife pays all the bills

A former Circle K employee who deliberately clocked off his shift to buy a lottery ticket he knew was worth $12.8million says he is finding it impossible to get another job. Robert Gawlitza seized an opportunity to claim the winning ticket at his convenience store in Phoenix, Arizona, after it was accidentally printed the day before and left at the register.

Circle K filed a lawsuit against Robert over the ownership of the ticket, claiming it belongs to the company because it was printed at its register but left unsold after a customer backed out for lack of cash. Robert ended up losing his job, with the lawsuit over who is entitled to the fortune ongoing.

He has now insisted that the money is the “furthest thing” from his mind, because he is simply too focused on restoring his reputation, which he believes has been “run through the mud”. It comes after a lip reader revealed

In a startling interview, Robert said: “For Circle K I feel it’s about the money. For myself, I think it’s my name. 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.”

Robert had worked for Circle K for 17 years, and he made the comments on YouTube to former Powerball winner Timothy Schultz, who once landed a $28million jackpot that “turned him into an ATM machine”.

They spoke about the legal situation, and Robert was joined by his lawyer Josh Kolsrud, who argued that the convenience store has an “unofficial policy forcing its employees to purchase accidentally printed lottery tickets”.

Six former employees at Circle K have given affidavits that back up the suggestion that some workers had to pay money out of their own pockets for accidentally printed tickets.

Nicholas Deliberties, who was manager of a Phoenix store, said: “I observed and participated in that practice several times, including once when I had to pay $110 for tickets I accidentally printed.”

The winning ticket in this case, meanwhile, was left at the register overnight after a woman (named Kim in court papers) bought $85 worth of The Pick lottery tickets before it was established that she only had $60 on her. Therefore, she had to leave some behind, and this included the winning ticket, which Robert checked the following morning when he started his shift.

According to him, he then got authorization from his boss to buy the ticket himself, and proceeded to take off his uniform and clock off work before getting a cashier to sell him the winning piece of paper for $10. However, he said Circle K demanded he give it back hours later, which he did, before he was fired.

Speaking about it, he said: “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 the clock at that time.

“I felt a little bit betrayed and hurt because 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.”

He has been unable to find an alternative job since then, and he added: “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, ‘are you this person’ because there are only three people in the United States with that last name.

“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 once they identify that’s who I am, they then kind of move past me.”

Robert said the ongoing legal battle, which could result in a jury trial next year, will hopefully restore his reputation. He also said he did the right thing the day he bought the ticket and was simply following corporate policies.

And as for what is keeping him going now, he concluded: “Just a lot of prayer, spending a lot of time with my family, trying to figure out how to get by every single month, how to get through the next month.

“Still applying for jobs, still trying to find something out there that someone will say yes. This has been difficult.”

Circle K has been approached for comment.

It comes after a teenager who became a millionaire on the lottery revealed she wouldn’t wish winning the jackpot “on anyone”.

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Original Article: I bought $12.8m lottery ticket but lost my job and now wife pays all the bills