Circle K Sues Employee Over $12.8M Arizona Lottery Ticket
Posted on: February 23, 2026, 01:20h.
Last updated on: February 23, 2026, 01:20h.
- Circle K challenges manager’s claim to $12.8M ticket
- Unpaid lottery ticket left behind wins massive jackpot
- Judge to decide who legally owns winning ticket
Circle K is asking an Arizona judge to decide who legally owns a $12.8 million lottery ticket at the center of an unusual dispute between the convenience store chain and one of its employees.
The confusion began on November 24, 2025, when a customer visited a Circle K in Scottsdale and asked a store clerk to print multiple tickets for “The Pick,” a state lottery game in which players attempt to match six numbers with a draw later that night.
The employee printed $85 worth of $1 tickets, but the customer only had $60, leaving 25 unsold tickets on the counter, according to a lawsuit filed in the Maricopa County Superior Court. Those tickets remained in the store overnight. Among them was a winner, entitling its holder to a $12.8 million jackpot.
The jackpot in question is among the largest in the history of The Pick and is the biggest won in Arizona since 2019.
Manager Buys Winner
The store’s manager, Robert Gawlitza, learned the next morning that the jackpot-winning ticket had been printed but not sold. Court filings allege he searched the remaining tickets to find the winner, clocked out of his shift, removed his Circle K uniform, and bought the leftover tickets, including the winner, from another employee for $10.
Circle K management became aware of the transaction shortly after and ordered that the ticket be held at the company’s corporate offices pending a court’s decision on who legally owns the prize. The retailer’s complaint names both Gawlitza and the Arizona Lottery as defendants.
A spokesperson for the Arizona Lottery said the agency had never encountered a situation where a store and an employee asserted competing claims to the same jackpot ticket.
“This is a unique situation, and we are not aware of any prior litigation of this sort involving the Arizona Lottery,” the spokesperson told local media.
Who Owns the Ticket?
In its lawsuit, Circle K cited provisions of the Arizona Administrative Code that say retailers retain property claims to lottery tickets that customers leave unpaid and that remain unsold. The company has asked the court to determine whether the ticket was ever validly sold, who lawfully owns it, and who is entitled to the $12.8 million prize.
The case hinges on the question of whether printed but unpaid tickets can be treated as unsold inventory belonging to the retailer, or whether Gawlitza’s purchase, even after the draw, was legitimate.
But time is running out. Under Arizona lottery rules, the winner of an in-state draw game like The Pick must claim the prize within 180 days of the drawing, in this case, by May 23, 2026. If no valid claim is made by then, the prize could be forfeited or dealt with under state compensation rules.
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