Stiffed waitress receives share after lottery ticket dispute

STUTTGART, Ark. – An Arkansas waitress who complained that a co-worker stiffed her after they won $300,000 in the state lottery says she has received an undisclosed share of the prize and is dropping a lawsuit.

Leslie Underwood said a co-worker at Sportsman’s Drive-In, Mandy Vanhouten, had cashed a scratch-off ticket their boss had given them. Underwood told the Stuttgart Daily Leader the amount she received wasn’t what she expected, but it was still “free money” she didn’t have to begin with.

After Underwood’s plight came to light last month, an anonymous donor offered the woman and her family a trip to Disneyland.

A telephone number for Vanhouten couldn’t be found. State lottery officials quoted the woman last month as saying she would use the money to “make her life easier.”