Court: State can't seize welfare recipient's lottery winnings

New York’s top court ruled Thursday that a Brooklyn man whose lottery winnings were confiscated because he had been on public assistance is, in fact, entitled to keep his prize money — thanks to federal minimum-wage laws.

The Court of Appeals, in a 4-2 decision, said Walter E. Carver, 69, a Vietnam veteran, didn’t have to pay half of the $10,000 lottery prize he won in 2007 in a scratch-off game.

The state’s Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance had tried to force Carver to pay back $5,000 to cover some of the cash assistance and food stamps he had received while sorting mail, sweeping floors and collecting trash as part of his assignment to New York City’s “work experience program” from 1993-2000.

In reaching its decision, the Court of Appeals agreed with Carver’s attorneys that repayment would have meant he had been working for the city for below minimum wage. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman, writing for the majority, said Carver was covered by federal minimum-wage protections.

The state had contended that Carver didn’t meet the statutory definition of “employee,” as governed by minimum-wage laws.