Amir Massihzadeh v. Tom Seaver

Citations

• 2019 COA 92

Syllabus

Massihzadeh held one of three winning lottery tickets for a Lotto $4.8 million jackpot. He received one-third of the jackpot prize after taxes. A decade later, the other two tickets were invalidated based upon fraud. Massihzadeh sued the Colorado State Lottery Division (the Division), alleging breach of contract, and sought to obtain the other two-thirds of the jackpot with interest. The trial court dismissed the case for failure to state a claim because CRS § 44-40-113(4) discharges the Division from liability upon the payment of any prize. On appeal, Massihzadeh contended that the district court erred in granting the motion to dismiss because his claims against the Division were not precluded he asserted that the statute only pertains to claims against the Division by third parties. Here, the Division tendered a prize, and Massihzadeh accepted it. Based on the plain language of CRS § 44-40-113(4), Massihzadeh's acceptance of the payment constituted \any prize\ sufficient to discharge the Division of liability. Thus, the district court did not err in granting the motion to dismiss. The judgment was affirmed.