AUBURN – A man who claims he was injured while scratching lottery tickets is suing the local store where he bought the tickets.

Scott Michaud of Auburn has filed a lawsuit against Pleasant Street Market in Auburn over an incident that allegedly occurred on April 4, 2000.

Michaud claims he bought a few scratch tickets from the store on that day, then he leaned on a wooden countertop to rub them.

The countertop flipped up, struck him in the face and immediately caused him to have pain and numbness in his chin and jaw, the lawsuit says.

Michaud claims that he has suffered permanent injuries as a result of the accident.

He is seeking damages to cover his “pain and suffering, emotional distress, mental anguish, physical injury, loss of wages, loss of future earning capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, permanent impairment and medical expenses.”

Neither Michaud nor his lawyers could be reached Friday.

The owner of Pleasant Street Market, Donna Rowe, described the incident as a freak accident.

“I don’t even understand the whole thing,” she said.

Rowe’s lawyer, Paul Douglass, filed a response in Androscoggin County Superior Court, arguing that Michaud’s alleged injuries are due to prior or subsequent conditions and events unrelated to the accident at the convenience store.

Pleasant Street Market has been in business for more than four decades. Rowe has owned it for the past eight and a half years.

According to Rowe, Michaud is still a regular customer at the store.

“There are no hard feelings,” she said.

lchmelecki@unjournal.com