A company in China gave out lottery tickets to its employees to celebrate the New Year, and a first prize winner emerged. However, controversy arose when the company demanded the return of the lottery ticket after learning the news.
According to Hunan Daily and other sources on the 9th (local time), a company located in Ningbo City, Zhejiang Province, recently purchased 500 lottery tickets as gifts for employees attending the annual meeting. One employee who received a lottery ticket won the first prize, receiving a prize worth 6.08 million yuan (approximately 1.2 billion KRW). The employee expressed joy through China's messenger app WeChat, saying, "If you come to our company, you can win the lottery."
An employee who won first prize with a lottery ticket distributed by the company. Xiao Xiang Morning News
However, the employee's happiness did not last long. After hearing about the first prize, the company demanded that the employee return the lottery ticket. The company argued that the prize money should be evenly distributed among the employees who attended the annual meeting. The employee refused, and eventually both parties went to the police station. A police official who heard the story suggested that since it is a civil dispute, the parties should resolve it legally.
Furthermore, it was reported that the winning numbers had already been announced before the company distributed the lottery tickets, which intensified the controversy. The company representative instructed the finance team to check the lottery numbers first and distribute only non-winning tickets to employees, but the responsible staff failed to verify properly, resulting in the first prize ticket being given out.
Local experts criticized the company's response and sided with the employee. One lawyer said, "The company's demand for the return of the lottery ticket after the employee realized they had won is neither reasonable nor legal," adding, "Since the company distributed the lottery tickets as gifts for the annual general meeting and the employee received them, ownership naturally belongs to the employee." Another lawyer stated, "If the company takes measures such as threatening to reduce wages or dismiss employees under the pretext of the lottery, employees have the right to report the issue to labor inspectors and seek legal assistance."
Local netizens who learned about the case also responded with comments such as, "It is the company's problem. If the employee does not return the lottery ticket, there is no issue," and "The company has no right to make such demands."
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