TODAY IN HISTORY: Waitress sued, then kidnapped after getting winning lottery ticket as a tip
An Alabama waitress was given a winning lottery ticket as a tip on March 7, 1999.
Tonda Dickerson won $US10 million ($30 million in today's money) when the numbers were drawn later.
But she found herself stuck in a series of lawsuits stretching on for years.
She was sued by co-workers at the Grand Bay Waffle House claiming the tip should be split among them.
A jury sided with the co-workers before it was overturned by the Alabama Supreme Court.
Then the man who tipped her the lottery ticket sued, claiming they had agreed she would buy him a new truck if she won.
A judge threw that case out.
In the same week the case was ruled in Dickerson's favour, she was purportedly kidnapped by her ex-husband.
During the purported abduction, she shot her ex-husband in the chest.
He survived the shooting, but police declined to press charges against either of them.
Dickerson was then chased by the tax office claiming she owed $US1 million in gift taxes.
After a long legal battle she was ordered to pay a substantial sum to the IRS.
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