Eight Women Vow To Keep Working Despite $276 Million Lottery Win

Wednesday, March 19, 2008 posted 11:25 AM EDT

On Tuesday we told you about a group of 8 West Virginia tax office employees who believed they'd won the seventh biggest jackpot in Powerball lottery history. But they all showed up for work until experts verified that their ticket was the sole big winner of the $276.3 million prize.

Their patience was rewarded later in the day, after lottery officials confirmed what they already knew - the money was theirs and they were, in fact, the only ones to claim it. The Morgantown 8 came to lottery H.Q. in Charleston hours later, prepared to collect their initial prize of $1 million.

They opted to take a lump sum payment of $139 million, which after taxes will see all of them receive nearly $12 million each. They'll get that within the next two weeks.

And now for the stunning news - none of them have any immediate plans to quit their jobs. Despite the fact they don't exactly have the world's most glamorous or enjoyable positions, those who shared in the bounty say it will be business as usual. At least for now.

"At this point, everybody is [going to stay]," confirms Linda Fominko, who bought the winner at a video poker bar. "But who knows down the line in a few months or a year?"

The 35-year-office veteran claims she let the computer pick the winning numbers and while the group had played the lottery in the past, she had a hunch that this time was the one occasion they shouldn't miss. "I told them Thursday, 'I have the feeling we're going to hit Powerball, and we have to play numbers tonight. It has to be tonight,'" she recalls.

After making copies of the ticket for her coworkers, she settled down to watch the big draw on Saturday night. Minutes later she was in shock. "You're like whoa, wait a minute, wait a minute. Let me look at this again," she laughs. "I must have looked at it 10 times before I jumped up, ran back and told my sister, 'The tax office won the Powerball!'"

But there are problems associated with winning a big prize that you don't often consider - starting with how to get in touch with all those involved. Paula Pride was away on a church retreat in Kentucky when the news hit. Despite desperate efforts to reach her, she didn't find out about her new fortune until the next day.

She's one of the 8 who insists staying at her post is important to her. "We're coming into tax time, and they can't replace eight people," she explains. "It's a lot of work."

It's the same story for new multi-millionaire Amanda Pugh. She plans to do some travelling with her fatter bank account - but not until her official vacation time from work is sanctioned.

Are these people crazy? Not exactly. All of them realize their lives will change because of the money and they're trying to keep things as normal as possible for now. "I'm happy. I like my life," Pugh relates. "I don't want to change anything too much right now."

But Pride admits their future is now uncertain. "You know it's going to change," she concedes.

Still, while the choice to stay is theirs, consider this - there are 11 people who work in that tax office. Three of them chose not to play that week. You can only imagine what they're thinking right now.

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