Judge extends ban on lottery payout

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INDIANAPOLIS, March 1 (UPI) -- An Indiana judge blocked a lottery payout of $9.5 million, at the center of a dispute among eight hair salon workers who say they have claim to the prize.

The request came from seven co-workers at Lou's Creative Styles in Lawrence, Ind., who contend they should share in prize winnings from a ticket bought by another co-worker, Christiana Shaw, The Indianapolis Star reported Friday.

Marion County, Ind., Superior Judge Heather Welch issued a temporary order prohibiting the payout by the Indiana Lottery Commission last week, and Friday extended it indefinitely.

Shaw told her colleagues the winning ticket she purchased was hers alone, paid for with her own money and not money pooled by the group for ticket-buying. Shaw's attorney, Kent Smith, repeated the claim at a hearing Wednesday, acknowledging his client bought the winning ticket at the same time she bought tickets for the group.

At the hearing, the seven co-workers, and three former employees who participated in the salon's lottery pool, testified each was aware of a "rule" in their system prohibiting the purchaser of the group's tickets to buy personal tickets at the same time.