Waiter Fatih Ozcan, who worked at the Kapadokya Turkish restaurant in York, northern England, thought his financial woes were over after he bought the winning EuroMillions lottery ticket in January 2012.
But things turned nasty when his boss Hayati Kucukkoylu, who runs the restaurant, claimed the jackpot for himself.
The bitter legal dispute ended up in court, with Mr Ozcan demanding half the money, insisting had it not been for him, his boss would never have entered the lottery draw.
Mr Kucukkoylu insisted the jackpot was rightfully his because he had chosen the winning numbers.
But superstitious Mr Ozcan, who had purchased the ticket, was adamant it was his premonition that had prompted the win.
In an unusual ruling, the judge ruled that waiter and his boss were entitled to $1 million each and accepted Mr Ozcan’s explanation, saying the dream theory was entirely “plausible”.
“He dreamt that he was holding a large bundle of cash and standing in front of him was his boss, the judge said.
“Mr Ozcan is a strong believer in the power of dreams and interpreted this to mean that he and Mr Kucukkoylu would win the lottery,” he said.
The ruling marked the end of a complicated case.
Immediately after the win, Mr Ozcan — fearing that his boss would cut him out of his share — had phoned British lottery organisers Camelot and the police.
The waiter falsely accused his boss of stealing the winning ticket from his pocket, local news site The Press reports.
Mr Kucukkoylu was arrested in his restaurant and held in police custody for around nine hours.
Mr Ozcan admitted he had lied to the police, but said he was “fearful for his safety”.
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