Group of combined state lotteries have argued that a lawsuit filed against them should be dismissed. The plaintiff claimed that he was shortchanged by a million dollar in the process.
According to KCCI News, the Multi-State Lottery Association asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit filed by Larry Dawson, a Webster City, Iowa resident. They argued that Dawson doesn't have a standing as his claiming is merely speculative and therefore, hypothetical. Dawson's lawsuit is the first stemming from the allegations that there has been jackpot-fixing happening done by former association employee Eddie Tipton.
Eddie Tipton has been previously convicted of rigging a $16.5 million jackpot by December 2010 as reported by Daily Mail. He's accused of tampering the computer that generated Hot Lotto numbers at the Urbandale, Iowa-based association after then purchasing the winning numbers through a ticket. When found out, the money was returned to the 16 states that participated in the Hot Lotto after they've known that the associates of Tipton tried to claim the prize.
Back to the association, their lawyer argued that "Had the December 29, 2010 Hot Lotto game not been allegedly rigged, different numbers would have been drawn on that date and may have resulted in a different jackpot winner. Moreover, had the jackpot continued to progressively increase following the December 29, 2010 drawing, the player pool for all drawings would have increased as well, resulting in more number combinations being purchased for each drawing, until a jackpot winner was chosen."
This then indicates that the likelihood of someone to win the jackpot right before Dawson would increase as written by ABC News. The association also claimed that Dawson's chance to have the $9 million jackpot would be very well be decreased.
In retaliation, Dawson's attorney, Nicholas Mauro said that the damages on Dawson weren't hypothetical. He added that According to the rules of the game - in which the lottery asks the public to put its faith - his jackpot should have included the December 29, 2010, prize money."
