Inset: Robert Gawlitza with the winning lottery ticket (Kolsrud Law Offices). Background: The Circle K location in Scottsdale, Ariz. (KPHO).
An Arizona man who used to work at a local Circle K lost his job after he bought a winning lottery ticket left behind by a customer — but his attorney says he was just following the rules of the store.
In November 2025, Robert Gawlitza was employed as a manager at the Circle K in Scottsdale, Arizona, when a customer — who was also an employee of the store, according to the company — bought $60 worth of lottery tickets. Gawlitza's co-worker, Marline Ybarra, had printed out $85 worth of tickets, some of which had apparently fallen behind the printer. According to court filings reviewed by Law&Crime, the store had a policy that employees had to dole out the cash for any lottery tickets left behind by customers as a penalty for accidentally printing them out.
According to a complaint filed by Circle K, Gawlitza paid for a portion of the extra tickets after learning that one of them was a winner — to the tune of $12.8 million — when he arrived for work on Nov. 25, 2025.
"After learning that a winning lottery ticket had been generated at the store, Mr. Gawlitza learned that the additional unsold tickets from the prior evening remained at the store," Circle K's complaint says. "According to Mr. Gawlitza, he located the unsold tickets and confirmed one of them was the winning ticket after he matched all six numbers … to win the 'jackpot.' He then clocked out, removed his Circle K uniform, and 'purchased' the Ticket, by having another employee 'ring' up a sale for $10. Mr. Gawlitza paid $10 and received a receipt."
The complaint, which seeks a declaratory judgment from Maricopa County Superior Court clarifying ownership of the winning ticket, notes that both Gawlitza and Ybarra signed the back of the winning ticket. That same day, Circle K "directed that the Ticket be held at the corporate offices pending further review," the complaint said.
According to a responsive filing by Gawlitza, the store decided that even though Gawlitza paid for, got a receipt for, and signed the back of that winning ticket while off-duty — all in accordance with Circle K's "established, consistent, and well-known" store policy — it did not belong to him, the filing said. When Gawlitza went to cash in his jackpot, Circle K fired him, allegedly accusing him of trying to cash in the customer's winnings, according to Gawlitza's lawyer.
Gawlitza's attorney, Josh Kolsrud, told KPHO in an interview that Gawlitza was simply following the rules. Kolsrud explained the policy that employees followed at the Scottsdale Circle K and had six different affidavits from current and former employees vouching for the policy.
In a statement provided to Law&Crime, Kolsrud said "evidence will show that ownership transferred upon the completed sale, and that Circle K asserted an ownership claim only after learning the ticket was worth $12.8 million."
Kolsrud added, "Robert devoted approximately 20 years of his career to Circle K. He maintains that he followed the very procedures the company trained its employees to follow, yet after the ticket proved to be the jackpot winner, he lost his job and found his integrity publicly questioned. For Robert, this case is about more than the money — it is about clearing his name and having the court determine that he acted honestly and in accordance with Circle K's own policies."
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In a statement to People magazine, a Circle K spokesperson said the company's intent was not to target Gawlitza or any specific person. "It is a declaratory judgment complaint filed to seek clarity from the court to determine rightful ownership of this lottery ticket," the statement said.
The company has said the customer-employee who originally purchased the tickets may also have an ownership claim.
Circle K has not responded to Kolsrud's filing, and the company has asked for a jury trial to determine the ownership of the winning ticket. For now, the jackpot winnings remain with the Arizona State Lottery, which is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit.
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