Canadian Pizza Worker Files Lawsuit After Friends Take Big Lottery Win

Summary

• Driver sues 16 friends for cheating him of a lottery prize
• Claims friends hid $1 million lottery win from him
• Says he feels betrayed and disappointed by lottery syndicate

A Canadian pizza delivery driver has failed a lawsuit against his 16 friends, accusing them of hiding from him that they jointly won a $1 million lottery prize.

Philip Tsotsos has claimed a cut of the Maxmillion prize as the 17th winner, pressing a $70,000 lawsuit against the syndicate.

Tsotsos Baffled at the Group’s ‘Betrayal’

The victorious syndicate had pooled money to jointly purchase a Lotto Max ticket from the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation in 2021. Tsotsos insisted that he should be included in the group, despite them claiming that he had not paid to play. The group and the pizza delivery driver were colleagues at the auto parts delivery company he was previously employed at.

Tsotsos discovered the news when he was scrolling on social media and came across a photograph where a customer eating pizza was holding a million-dollar check. Baffled at the group keeping him in the dark about the victory, he accused the group of deceiving him. Tsotsos had delivered pizzas to the syndicate when the win was announced in October 2021.

In his lawsuit, the pizza delivery driver claimed that he didn’t pay immediately for the tickets while he was a part of the syndicate for six years because the payments were based on an opt-out credit system. Therefore, it was unfair to disqualify him from its membership. The group restarted in March 2021 after being temporarily stopped in 2020 because of the pandemic.

When he left his job at the auto company, Tsotsos still wanted to be a part of the syndicate. Tsotsos claimed to have a tab of $30, after which the group’s organizer asked him to pay his dues back along with an extra $10 to remain a part of the syndicate. When he had offered to pay the $40 later, he joked about taking it out of the prize if the group won. The organizer joked back that he would charge higher interest in that case.

Tsotsos Not Entitled to Claims, Says Defense Lawyer

Defense lawyer David Robins, who represents the syndicate, emphasized that Tsotsos was not entitled to a cut in the prize as he claimed because he did not pay any amount to play. Robins insisted that Tsotsos’ claim was indefensible as he was excluded from the group.

Each member of the 16-strong group pocketed $62,500 from the massive prize. Had Tsotsos been included, each participant would have received $58,000.