PHOENIX — The attorney for the Circle K store manager at the center of a $12.8 million lottery ticket lawsuit says his client was fired after following what he believed was company policy and says a district manager confirmed he had done nothing wrong.
Circle K filed a lawsuit in February asking a Maricopa County court to decide who rightfully owns a winning ticket from the Nov. 24, 2025, drawing of The Pick.
Attorney Josh Kolsrud filed a response to that lawsuit on behalf of Robert Gawlitza, who was the Circle K store manager at that time. Kolsrud said that day in November, a customer walked into the Circle K on the southeast corner of 56th Street and Bell Road and asked a store clerk to print $85 worth of lottery tickets. The customer only had $60 and left the remaining 25 tickets behind, placing them near the cash register where they were available for anyone to purchase.
The next morning, Gawlitza discovered one of those tickets had matched all 6 winning numbers — 3, 13, 14, 15, 19 and 26 — in the Nov. 24 jackpot drawing worth $12.8 million, the fourth-largest prize in The Pick's history.
Kolsrud said Gawlitza bought the leftover tickets because Circle K had an unwritten policy requiring employees to purchase accidentally printed, unsold lottery tickets.
"So, if you accidentally print them out and they go unsold, it's the industry practice for the person who prints them out to be responsible to pay for them. If not the person, then the store manager,” Kolsrud said.
Kolsrud said Gawlitza contacted his supervisor before purchasing the tickets to confirm he was following the correct procedure, and his boss said he was. Gawlitza then turned the winning ticket over to Circle K and agreed to split any winnings 50/50 with the clerk who had printed the tickets.
"My client, he wanted to do the right thing," Kolsrud said.
However, on Jan. 30, Gawlitza received a call from Circle K management and was fired, with the company citing a violation of store policy.
Kolsrud said Gawlitza had worked at Circle K for 20 years, starting as a cashier before working his way up to store manager.
"He loved his job, he would love to go back," Kolsrud said. "He's not there anymore because he did do the right thing. He tried to follow all the policies, letter for letter, word for word, and he got fired for it."
Kolsrud said Gawlitza's primary goal when he first sought legal counsel was not the money, but his reputation.
"The only thing that he wanted to be done was to clear his name, to show the world really that he didn't do anything wrong," Kolsrud said.
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As for the $12.8 million jackpot, Kolsrud said the Arizona Lottery is currently holding the winnings in an interest-bearing account while the court case plays out. A Maricopa County Superior Court Judge has ruled there is no longer a statute of limitations on the claim, meaning the lottery will comply with whatever the court orders.
"So right now, the money is in an interest-bearing account managed by the state of Arizona, and they're just awaiting Judge Kramer to give a ruling on everybody's motions,” Kolsrud said.
A photo provided by Kolsrud shows Gawlitza holding the winning lottery ticket while wearing his uniform. Kolsrud said the photo's metadata indicates it was taken around 11:30 a.m. on Nov. 26, 2025, after Gawlitza had purchased the ticket, clocked back in and put his uniform back on.
Circle K previously said in a statement that it is "committed to doing the right thing" and characterized the lawsuit as a request for court guidance rather than action against any specific party.
"It is not accurate to characterize this as a lawsuit against any specific party," the Circle K spokesperson told our news partner KTAR.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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