Publishers Clearing House said yesterday that the U.S. District Court in Ohio dismissed a case brought by an individual who alleged that a PCH mailing constituted a contract to award him a $10 million prize.
U.S. District Court Judge Dan Aaron Polster granted the company’s motion to dismiss the case of Dan Thomas v. PCH.
A spokesman for PCH, Port Washington, NY, said Polster dismissed the case because there were many clear messages and directions throughout the mailing indicating that it was not a contract.
In his decision, Polster said, “Thomas apparently chose to ignore this language, the [word] ‘DRAFT’ superimposed over both pages of the letter, and the Official Rules in order to determine that the mailing constituted a contract. …. Rather than establishing a contract, the mailing only shows that there was not a contract between the parties.”
Christopher L. Irving, PCH’s senior director of consumer affairs, said, “We are glad that this action has been dismissed at its earliest stage. … This decision is one in a long line in which courts continue to find that Publishers Clearing House mailings are clear and easy to understand to anyone who takes the time to read them.”
Irving said a judge has ruled in the company’s favor in the past 10 cases in which a court has considered the merits of a PCH sweepstakes claim.
PCH will award its next major prize of $1 million in a live PCH announcement in a commercial during NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw on Aug. 24.
