A Dutch woman who claimed she suffered emotional damages due to not winning the lottery missed the jackpot in court too.
Amsterdam District Court judges Wednesday rejected the claim of Helene de Gier, who said she was traumatized by not winning the country’s National Postcode Lottery, which she didn’t enter, while her neighbors did.
In the lottery, postal codes are chosen at random, and people who live there and enter can win prizes ranging from a few euros (dollars) up to millions. Proceeds go to charity.
De Gier lived on a street in the small southern town of Heusden where seven entrants won €13.9 million (US$18.6 million) each on Jan 1, 2006.
Together with her husband, she filed a suit, arguing that the lottery was an invasion of privacy because she could not escape the media attention surrounding the town’s selection. Afterward, neighbors allegedly rubbed in their victory, including one who ostentatiously displayed a new Porsche in front of his house.
De Gier said she eventually become obsessed with the loss. She said she was constantly confronted with it when writing her postal address.
So you don’t enter, and then you sue ’cause you feel bad when you don’t win? WTF?
The thought of the next lottery draw felt “like a noose around my neck being tightened,” she told television program Nova, wiping away tears.
In addition, she said the lottery uses advertisements that amount to “emotional blackmail,” because they emphasize the regret people who do not participate will feel when their neighbors win.
“In other lotteries you would never know for sure that if you had only participated you would have won,” she said.
Which is why it’s called “chance.”
“I’m not a sore loser. Absolutely not,” she told Nova.
Yeah…
Right…
IHT via Overlawyered
