This.

He’s going to get something for emotional distress.

Is “detrimental reliance” in that list? Like others, I’m skeptical about the “emotional distress” claim, but if he e.g. quit his job or bought a bunch of stuff because he thought he was rich and is now stuck with the consequences, those would be legitimate damages.

I’m not a lawyer either, but it’s fun to pretend like I am one when arguing on the internet 😁

In order to prevail on a claim for deliberate infliction of emotional anguish, you need to show three elements to the court: that the conduct was (1) extreme and outrageous, (2) intentional or reckless, and (3) causes you severe emotional suffering. See District of Columbia v. Tulin, 994 A.2d 788 (D.C. 2010).

Based on the above, I think he would fail at number 1- a mistake of entering numbers on a website does not constitute “extreme and outrageous” conduct. As for point (2) he obviously loses at the “intentional” part, though there is a question as to whether not correcting the mistake for two days is “reckless.” He might win on point (3)- but seeing as how he would need to prove all three elements I don’t see him winning on this allegation.

That seems like some heavy lifting for what was essentially either a human data entry error, or some failure in automation.

I know it’s extremely disappointing, but no one here is really at fault. Clerical errors happen. No process is 100% fool proof.

The most I can see him getting back is whatever he spent as standard preparation for claiming a lottery jackpot, like legal counsel and financial planning consults he may done in preparation. And even then, it would seem like some validation with Powerball was warranted before anything else.

“Emotional distress” is not “made me upset”. It’s “murdered my wife and kids in front of my eyes so now I have PTSD and need therapy for life”.

Edit: To elaborate, see Jane W. v. President & Directors of Georgetown Coll., 863 A.2d 821, 826–27 (D.C. 2004). You must be in physical danger to claim negligent infliction of emotional distress in Washington, DC.

The guy has no damages. He didn’t quit his job over this; he didn’t book tickets for a cruise around the world; he didn’t make an offer to buy a mansion with the money. He didn’t suffer any financial loss whatsoever.

Courts don’t decide whether someone deserves money because others were unfair to them. They decide whether someone deserves compensation for undue financial loss.

I expect him to either lose this case, win nominal damages (i.e. one dollar), or settle for a nuisance/PR amount.

Yeah. I wonder what the state laws say about official notification of lottery winners. There’s gotta be a regulation saying how you check what’s official to stop lawsuits.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get something, but it’s not going to be anything massive. A few hundred grand at absolute most - I’d optimistically expect something in the 20-50k range.

Nobody’s arguing that they didn’t make a mistake, but is it a mistake that warrants damages? Did this guy see the win, quit his job, buy a car, and then turn his ticket in? And even if he did, is that on them or him? 🤷‍♂️ liability is hard

Promissory estoppel has four requirements:

• The defendant made a clear and unambiguous promise.
• The plaintiff acted in reliance on the defendant’s promise.
• The plaintiff’s reliance was reasonable and foreseeable.
• The plaintiff suffered an injury due to reliance on the defendant’s promise.

Assuming purchasing a winning Powerball ticket meets the definition of a “promise,” I’d say the guy has a reasonable argument for points 2-4 but that Powerball also has an argument for (1): that with the winning numbers not being consistently reported, the “promise” was not unambiguous.

Normally I’d agree with you on the basis of reason alone, but I think lottery companies can stand being gouged once in a while.

Edit: shows how little I know about lotteries haha