Jackpot from a lottery pool, julia terruso states,
Argument Summative Assessment
The Big-Time Lotto
Background
Five friends working for the W.E. Burrough Excavation Company often pooled their money to purchase lottery tickets. They took turns buying them each week. Everyone pitched in $5 for a total of 25 tickets. They thought buying them in bulk would improve their odds of winning, and they agreed they would equally divide the proceeds of any prize. Last winter they won several free tickets, and in May they won and evenly divided $2,500. In early summer, however, their friendship was tested.
One of the friends, Tony, failed to show up for work on a Monday morning. When the construction manager called Tonys home, his wife reported he was incapacitated with back pain. She claimed his back problems had become chronic, causing him to seek the help of a medical specialist in another state. She said Tony regretted he would not be able to return to work, but his health had to come first.
Initially, Tonys friends thought nothing about another weekend without lottery winnings. That was normal. However, after a few weeks, Allie became suspicious about Tonys sudden disappearance. She contacted the State Lottery Office and learned Tony had won the $28 million jackpotwhich meant each member of the lottery-playing group would collect approximately $2.3 million in winnings after taxes.
Problem
Allie and her co-workers submitted their claim to the State Lottery Office. Tony quickly respondedarguing he purchased the winning ticket separate from their Group Play tickets. He had no documentation to prove it, though. The central question is this: To what degree should Tony share his winnings with his co-workers?
Related Information
The following information should help you consider the case. It appears below in two forms: (1) guidelines from the State Lottery Office to advise players about safeguards for Group Play, and (2) links to related articles that reveal how other people have responded to similar situations.
State Lottery Office Guidelines for Group Play
Groups of friends or family members often enjoy playing the state lottery together. Several people might contribute, but one leader usually purchases and holds the tickets. In most cases, the responsibility for buying the tickets and managing the record-keeping falls to a different person each week.
Everyone who joins Group Play should contribute toward purchasing the tickets in a timely fashion to ensure a fair claim to any winnings. Moreover, each group member should seek information about the ticket purchases so the process is transparent and reduces the chance of dispute or animosity.
Each group may set up its own rules. However, we recommend (1) each member sign a paper documenting their contribution and (2) the leader make photocopies of the group tickets so everyone can enjoy the excitement of the number draw and avoid disputed claims.
Research
Other lottery players have found themselves in similar circumstances. Consult the following articles to see how they handled their conflicts:
Woman sits out office Powerball pooland coworkers win, NBCNews.com, March 27, 2013: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/woman-sits-out-office-powerball-pool-coworkers-win-flna2b9102946
Lottery-winning hairdresser says she can prove her case, USA Today, April 10, 2013: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/04/10/hairdressers-lottery-lawsuit/2069845/
Jury rules Elizabeth man cheated his 5 co-workers out of a $38.5M jackpot from a lottery pool, The Star-Ledger, March 14, 2012: https://www.nj.com/news/2012/03/union_county_jury_ruled_this_m.html
Man Suing Former Colleagues for Being Excluded From Lottery Pool After 1 Million Dollar Win, PokerNewsDaily, May 4, 2022: https://www.pokernewsdaily.com/man-suing-former-colleagues-for-being-excluded-from-lottery-pool-after-1-million-win-35371/
Playing your office lottery pool? Get it in writing or end up in court, Courier Journal, October 17, 2018:
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2018/10/17/mega-millions-lottery-office-pool-winners-often-spend-years-court/1673613002/
Points of View
There are several perspectives to consider before deciding how to solve the problem. Imagine how each of the below individuals experiences the conflict and evaluate the argument each would make to negotiate a possible settlement.
Tony
Tony believes he has done nothing wrong and claims he has medical problems, which explain his sudden and unexpected disappearance. He did purchase tickets for the group, but he bought his tickets separately. He argues he honestly claimed winnings on his personal ticket.
Allie
Allie argues Tony needs to be penalized for what he did to the group. When she was the leader, she always made photocopies of the lottery tickets to share with every member. She claims Tony should have done the same. Allie says its difficult to judge the truth in a situation if someone fails to document the distinction between group and personal play.
Chris
Chris always tries to see the best in others. He has reasonable doubts about Tony, but he believes it is possible Tony bought his ticket apart from the group tickets. Chris thinks each group member should receive a token amount, not the entire amount, but a good-faith portionjust in case Tony did steal the groups winning lottery ticket.
Sal
Sal remembers one time when Tony said if either he or Sal acquired a winning ticket, they should split the winnings and not share them with the rest of the group. Sal claims he would have never gone through with it. He believes this earlier conversation reveals Tony is inclined toward cheating.
Pat
Pat faces difficult times. She has a child with Leukemia, which requires a great deal of medical attention. In fact, Pat is on the verge of losing her home due to all the medical bills. She argues each group member should get a share of the winnings in proportion to their need. Her need seems the greatest, so her family should get the largest portion of the winnings.
Lottery Official
The state lottery official admits there are no strict rules about Group Play, but there are guidelines. They argue the group in question could have avoided conflict if its members had taken a few simple steps to guarantee trust and transparency.
Your Argument
In the form of a GRASPS writing assignment, respond to the following prompt in the claim-evidence-warrant argumentative format: To what degree should Tony share his winnings with his co-workers?
Goal = To determine the degree to which Tony should share his lottery winnings with his co-workers
Role = Mediator hired by the state lottery commission to resolve the dispute in a fair, thoughtful mannertaking into consideration a variety of perspectives
Audience = State lottery officials, all concerned co-workers (i.e., Tony, Allie, Chris, Sal, and Pat), and eventually the general public (because it will likely go viral)
Situation = Refer to the background, problem, related information, and points of view sections
Product = Respond to the following prompt using the claim-evidence-warrant argumentative format: To what degree should Tony share his lottery winnings with his co-workers? This essential question leads to related sub-questions:
To what extent might both parties (Tony vs. his co-worker friends) be responsible for the dispute?
What general rule should apply in determining if sharing money is justified (e.g., State Lottery Guidelines, principles of fairness, equity, honesty, etc.)?
To what extent should each co-worker friends life circumstances influence a ratio of money sharing?
How do similar lottery disputes help you judge the current one?
To what extent has Tony violated principles of friendship in keeping the lottery winnings secret from his co-workers?
How would you characterize Tonys decision to hide his lottery winnings from his co-worker friends and quit his job without notice? Is this behavior suspicious? Could he have handled the situation differently? If so, how?
To what extent should Tonys co-workers points of view influence your decision?
Standards = Make sure you
establish a claim that fulfills all the characteristics of a strong claim
provide five pieces of evidence that fulfill all the characteristics of strong evidence
choose evidence from the background, related information, and points of view
Introduce your evidence with context. For example, if youre using evidence from one of the articles I provided, identify the writer and the name of the article before your quote:
In her article Jury rules Elizabeth man cheated his 5 co-workers out of a 38.5M
jackpot from a lottery pool, Julia Terruso states, _________________.
If youre using evidence from one of Tonys co-workers statements, identify the name of the co-worker before your quote:
According to Sal, ______________.
If youre using evidence from the State Lottery Office Guidelines for Group Play, identify the title of the publication before your quote:
According to the State Lottery Office Guidelines for Group Play, the group
leader should ______________.
provide a warrant for each piece of evidence that fulfills all the characteristics of a strong warrantmuch of which means generating warrants that highlight (1) the personal values or assumptions informing your argument and (2) the underlying general rule that can be applied beyond the current situation to similar ones
separate your claim from your evidence and your evidence from your warrants
format your document in MLA style
