A man who won a Mega Millions jackpot valued at $1.35 billion in Lebanon, Maine, is suing the mother of his own daughter for disclosing his identity as the winner, according to a report in the New York Daily News. He is alleging that the woman, named in court documents as Sara Smith, violated a non-disclosure agreement by revealing the news to various parties including the man's father and step-mother, while the New York Post report on the story includes his sister as well.
The suit says that the lucky winner took home a lump sum jackpot of $723,564,144 before taxes, and made the understandable decision to remain anonymous. An NDA was drawn up that his winning would be kept a secret until June of 2032, when their daughter turns 18 years old.
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Instead, the suit says, she started spilling the news to all and sundry, in defiance of the NDA, and now the man is seeking both compensatory damages "to be determined at trial, but no less than $100,000 per unauthorized disclosure," and a full accounting of the names of those she told. The suit goes on:
"As a result of Defendant's unauthorized disclosures, John Doe has suffered irreparable injury, and there is immediate and imminent danger that John Doe will continue to suffer irreparable injury for which there is no adequate remedy at law."
The historical Mega Millions jackpot, reportedly the fourth-largest of all time, was announced back in February of this year. At that time it was also announced that the winner was choosing to keep his identity a secret, and through a representative was said to be "thoughtfully considering the best uses of the life-changing prize." One of those uses turned out to be securing legal representation in order to protect his anonymity. It's a distressing turn of events for those involved, but probably not a complete surprise to those who know about the curse of lotto jackpots.
