Powerball Winners Share $1 Million Prize With Co-Worker

(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (2012 Getty Images)

Luck be a lady — or at least one with some very generous co-workers.

After reading this Latina’s story, you may think twice the next time your office does a lottery pool.

When a dozen workers at a South Florida real estate office won $1 million in the Powerball, it would seem as if the new employee who didn't join their pool would be regretting the decision for a very, very long time.

But thankfully for Jennifer Maldonado, her new co-workers are all about spreading the wealth around.

As The Miami Herald reports, Maldonado had only been working as an administrative assistant at Keller Williams Partner Realty for two weeks when she was asked to join the Powerball pool for Saturday's drawing for $338 million.

Maldonado says she opted out because she had not even received her first paycheck.

“I hadn’t gotten a paycheck and I was watching my pennies,” Maldonado told the Herald.

When Maldonado got the news that her new co-workers had in fact won a piece of the ginormous lottery purse, she thought it was a joke.

“I knew I was the only one who hadn’t put in the money, so I thought they were pranking me and going out of their way to make me feel something,” she said.

Would you share your winnings with co-workers? Let us know in the Comments Section.

Office team leader Laurie Finkelstein Reader said she felt lucky about the Powerball drawing.

“As a team we put together a fat pile of money,” Finkelstein Reader told the Herald. “If we do the right thing and always care about other people, the right thing will happen to us.”

After taxes, each of the team members in the pool will take home a whopping $83,333 each.

And even though Maldonado didn’t put in the $20, the team has decided to share some of the cash with their new co-worker — they wouldn't say how much.

The next time the group has a lottery pool, Maldonado says she is sure to join in.

“I didn’t realize how lucky they are,” she said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.