Boss surprises team with lottery tickets as Christmas gifts, leading to $50K jackpot win

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. - A boss in Kentucky gifted her employees with scratch-off tickets, and it turned into a $50,000 win for her team. 

The Kentucky Lottery said Sheila Colter works at Med Center Health Environmental Services. She bought the lottery tickets for her team as a Christmas gift. 

She had originally bought other gifts for her team, but the packages didn't arrive on time. 

"Our work Christmas party was early this year. I had ordered some items online, but they didn’t come in before the party," Colter said in a news release. "So, I decided to get Scratch-offs instead." 

A group of employees won a $50,000 lottery prize after their boss gifted them with tickets. (Credit: Kentucky Lottery)

But the winning ticket didn't come right away. Colter had bought $30 smaller lottery tickets to share. They won $50, and so Colter purchased one  $50 Millionaire Club Scratch-off.  That ticket was $100, and Colter purchased more tickets and ended up winning a $50,000 prize. 

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"We kept playing as a group. There are twenty-one of us," Colter added. "I would stop on the way to work, and we kept winning."

After taxes, the group won $35,750. It will be split 21 ways, with each employee receiving approximately $1,750.

"We were all so excited. I was on the floor," Colter recalled, who plans to use her winnings to finish her Christmas shopping. 

Another employee said she's going to buy medicine for her mother who's battling cancer. 

"It means a lot. This is going to help a lot of people," Colter said. 

This story was reported from Los Angeles.