A Maine man who won the $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot is suing his daughter’s mother for allegedly telling his family about the win against his wishes.
The man is taking legal action after winning the Maine state lottery back in January. He selected the one-time cash payment of $723.56 million that would give him just over $404 million after taxes.
His identity was unlikely to be determined because he had the option of claiming the winnings under a trust to keep his identity hidden.
In the lawsuit obtained by The Daily Beast, the man, identified only as “John Doe,” is seeking damages from his daughter’s mother, identified in the lawsuit as “Sara Smith,” for revealing the win and potentially jeopardizing his public identity and safety.
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Two weeks before the man claimed the prize in February, the woman signed a non-disclosure agreement requiring her to keep the man’s lottery win a secret until their daughter turned 18 in June 2032 to “avoid irreparable harm of allowing the media or the public in general to discover” his identity, physical location, assets and their daughter, as reported by the LotteryPost.com.
The man agreed to provide her with support and ongoing security resources in exchange for her signing the NDA.
According to documents, violating the NDA would entitle the man to “legal and equitable relief … without the requirement or necessity of proving actual damages.” This relief can include monetary damages, attorney fees and expenses accrued by the man after a breach.
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Under the NDA, “Sara” was required to inform the man within 24 hours if she violated the agreement. She did not notify him of the violation after allegedly revealing the win to his father and stepmother over the phone, LotteryPost.com reported. The news then made it to his sister, and more people may know of his lottery win.
The documents state that the unauthorized disclosure of the win led to “John” suffering “irreparable injury,” and that “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 man is asking the mother to reveal who else she told about his lottery win. He is seeking at least $100,000 for each time she violated the NDA, as well as attorney fees and court costs incurred.