Mega Millions winner won’t share with McD’s co-workers
McDonald’s workers in Baltimore are serving Unhappy Meals today after a co-worker, who claims to have won a third of the world record $656 Mega Millions lottery jackpot, says she won’t be sharing.
Stephen Martino, director of the Maryland Lottery, speaks to reporters outside a Baltimore 7-11 store where Wilson purchased tickets. (AP Photo)
The New York Post reports that Mirlande Wilson, 37, says she has a winning ticket, but that she bought it with her own money, not that of her co-workers, who had pooled their resources in an attempt to win the big Friday prize.
“We had a group plan, but I went and played by myself. [The ‘winning’ ticket] wasn’t on the group plan,” Wilson told the Post.
Winning tickets were sold in Maryland, Illinois and Kansas.
According to the article, Wilson ran the McDonald’s office pool that fateful day, getting $5 from 15 co-workers. She purchased the pool tickets and left them at the restaurant in a safe place, according to the article.
Just before closing shop Friday evening, however, the owner of the fast food restaurant says he gave Wilson another $5. Wilson bought more tickets after leaving work and took them home, but she claims the winning ticket was not purchased with the final $5 contribution.
After Wilson called in to work Saturday to say she’d no longer be peddling fried taters, a couple of co-workers went to her home and beat on the door until she answered.
“These people are going to kill you. It’s not worth your life!” said one after she opened the door.
As of Monday afternoon, no one had claimed the prize, worth an estimated $105 million after taxes.
Wilson may be fibbing. When pressed to produce the winning ticket she told the newspaper “I don’t know if I won. Some of the numbers were familiar. I recognized some of [them].”
The McDonald’s owner declined to comment except to say, “It’s all [BS], if you ask me. It’s speculation.”
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113 comments Add your comment
frankie
April 2nd, 2012
3:04 pm
in every case similar to this thecourt split the winnings amongst the group so each of the 16 people will still walk away with 6.5 million dollars. enought to invest in MC donalds and be your own boss several times…but at least 8 of them will be back at Mcdonalds working again in 5 years becasue they blew the money…..
frankie
April 2nd, 2012
3:07 pm
my bad…calculation error…after they hire a lawyer subtract 1/3rd from the 105million….idiots…
it is the 15 poeples fault just as much asit is hers…thes hould hae mae copies of the purchased tickets…..
doug
April 2nd, 2012
3:10 pm
a single mother of 7 kids and working at McDonald’s?
hopefully, she has to pay all that welfare money back.
Honest Al
April 2nd, 2012
3:14 pm
To everyone saying this is the reason they don’t play in office pools, it really shouldn’t be that complicated. Just get a copy of the tickets and anybody that comes in late, doesn’t play simple as that. I play in office pools for the simple fact that if the group does win, I’m not the only one left to do all the work when everyone quits. Imagine that feeling, the entire office except for you gets early retirement. Talk about egg on the face! LOL!
Christine
April 2nd, 2012
3:16 pm
OK I had read another article on this story. The tickets were purchased in put in a safe at work with the list of the contributors. Supposedly the Manager said he gave her another 5 dollars the night of the drawing to get 5 more tickets. 1st of all why would you do that if all the people had already put in there money and tickets were purchased. The woman who supposedly won had purchased tickets with a friend that night. Excited she had won called her work and was crying she won. When the co workers banged on her door for 20 min and threatened to kill her she back tracked saying she wasn’t sure if she won. I mean I would to if I had a lynch mob at my door.
martha
April 2nd, 2012
3:16 pm
When people play the lottery in office pools and then go and buy a ticket on their own, the others will make sure they’ll get something out of it. My advice would be: Never play in the office pool, you can always afford one or two dollars and buy your own ticket. And it’s not that this person was greedy, she bought the ticket for herself. It’s that others want what doesn’t belong to them.
Good Day Fan!!
April 2nd, 2012
3:17 pm
She should have to split the money because there is no way to tell if she won with the money that the last person gave her. Besides she already told one lie when she said she wasn’t sure that she won but some of the numbers looked familiar. Who quits their job without knowing for certain they won.
Honest Al
April 2nd, 2012
3:18 pm
Wait. 7 children and welfare??? I didn’t read that in the article. Are we making stuff up and everyone is running with it, or was that actually reported somewhere?
are you surprised?
April 2nd, 2012
3:19 pm
$105 million after taxes and you are surprised that she is screwing them. Reality is that it is he said vs she said. I am sure they will sue but provided she can show a ticket with the $5 she took from the manager; she will prevail. of course if she can’t she will likely be losing a lions share to the platiffs.
Steve
April 2nd, 2012
3:19 pm
She will pay for her error. Whether or not she is telling the truth, she should not have accepted more money after she had made copies of the ticket. That will be her downfall.
Even if she has to split it with 15 other people it will still be something like $5million after taxes ($214 million before lump sum cut and then taxes). She couldn’t make $5 million in a few lifetimes working at McDonalds.
Instead .. she will probably end up givign it all to lawyers .. who are the greediest lot of people on the face of the Earth.