The four have the right to refile the claim within one year. “At this point in time, our clients will be considering all of their options,” Bauer said.
Bauer said the decision to dismiss the suit was made “for numerous reasons,” but cited attorney-client privilege. He declined to elaborate, saying only, “We believed it was the appropriate thing to do for our case as this time.”
Lawyers for the 15 jackpot winners said they believe the four and their lawyers reached the same conclusion the winners had months ago — they had no case.
“We are very pleased with the outcome. We hope it’s the end of it,” said Frank Patrizio Jr., a lawyer for the winners.
He and Michael Baer, lawyer for the rest of the winners, issued a joint written statement. “We are grateful that our clients may soon be out from under the cloud which has hung over and tainted their realization of an American dream for the past nine months,” Baer and Patrizio said.
The lawsuit filed by the four, who were not at work to throw their dollar into the lottery pool the day of the December drawing, claimed they should get $20 million because members of the pool regularly covered for each other.
Last month, lawyers for the winners said the suit should be dismissed based on evidence, including “meticulous” records kept by one winner since 2005, that negated the co-workers’ claims. A trial was scheduled for October.
“From the very inception of this pool the one fundamental governing practice or custom was that you had to play to win,” the winners’ lawyers wrote in a motion filed in August.
The lawyers said claims by the four that the money used to buy the Dec. 12 tickets included money won in the previous drawing Dec. 9 were not supported by the evidence.
The winners’ lawyers said the number and names of those who played varied by drawing with some participating in most pools and others, including the four suing, playing infrequently.
The winners were Kenny Kirby, John Dembski, Donnelly, James Montgomery, Cynthia Hershberger, Ritchie Williams, Scott Bradley, Dennis Steinke, Loyal Davis Jr., Rodney Stephenson, Jolaine Routson, Arthur J. Rudy, Amos Steinbrunner, Clifford Scott Helman and Thomas Hill. Hill was retired and related to one of the winners.
After taxes, 14 winners each received a check for about $6.3 million. Richard Donnelly, had two shares in the pool and received about $12.6 million, according to the state lottery commission.
The lottery drawing was Dec. 12 and the lawsuit initially was filed Dec. 23 by Doug Harter, Israel Carnes, Tammy K. Wright and Jon Litchfield, all of Piqua.
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