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A Lawrence woman has filed a complaint with the Kansas Human Rights Commission accusing a major Kansas Lottery contractor of coercing her to dig up dirt on top lottery executives.

In her three-page complaint, Kelly Fisher says Anthony Hucker, head of GTECH Corp.'s operations in Kansas, directed her to "exploit my relationships" with lottery employees to get information that could be used against them.

GTECH owns and operates the computers behind the Kansas Lottery's online games, including Powerball, Keno, Pick 3 and Kansas Cash Quick Pick. The company's contract with the lottery is worth about $7 million annually.

Robert Vincent, vice president of corporate communications for GTECH, denied the allegations in Fisher's complaint.

"What we have here is a disgruntled employee, who, while she was an employee, chose not to complain," Vincent said, adding that GTECH prides itself on promoting discrimination-free workplaces.

"We consider this to be baseless," he said.

But in her complaint, Fisher said she was told she would have "golden balls" if she obtained a "certain photograph" of then-lottery director Greg Ziemak.

Her complaint, filed Sept. 26, does not say when she was told to get the photograph.

On Sept. 24, the Journal-World published a photograph of Ziemak posing with four female lottery workers wearing bras on their heads.

The photograph surfaced during a J-W investigation into events surrounding Gov. Bill Graves' calling for Ziemak's resignation, and a lottery worker's being charged with fixing more than $62,000 worth of scratch tickets.

The J-W obtained the photograph from John Altevogt, former chairman of the Wyandotte County Republican Party.

Ziemak announced on Sept. 11 that he was resigning, effective Oct. 1, to pursue other opportunities. But the J-W investigation revealed that he had been fired for ineffective leadership.

In her complaint, Fisher said that on June 7, Hucker directed her to "wine and dine" Ed Van Petten, then-deputy director at the Kansas Lottery and Ziemak's eventual replacement.

Van Petten, she said, preferred to meet with her and Hucker, but Hucker insisted that she dine with him alone at a restaurant "close to Mr. Van Petten's home so that he can drive home safely when intoxicated."

Fisher said she filed a complaint with GTECH's human resources office after Hucker told her to find out if Van Petten was married.

But the director of the company's human resources office, Fisher said, told her to discuss her concerns with Hucker "because he was new to the company and from England and might not understand the office culture."

Three weeks later, Fisher says a co-worker told her that Hucker was about to re-hire a former employee because Hucker thought Fisher "was about to crack and wouldn't take long to push me over the edge."

Fisher said she resigned the next day (June 29).

Contacted by the Journal-World, Fisher declined comment on her complaint.

"I don't want to say anything without talking to my attorney first," she said.

In her complaint, Fisher said she was "subjected to harassment, overloaded with work assignments, directed to engage in unethical and illegal activities," and forced to resign because she is a woman.

"I feel I would not have been treated in this fashion but for my sex, female," she wrote.

In Kansas, persons intending to file lawsuits alleging discrimination are required to first take their complaints to either the state Human Rights Commission or the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Both agencies offer mediation services. Complaints that remain unresolved have the option of being heard in district court.

Fisher's complaint took Van Petten by surprise.

"I never had lunch, dinner, drinks or anything else with Kelly Fisher," he said. "I was never asked."

Van Petten said he "probably didn't have more than three conversations with her, outside of saying 'hi' in the halls. "

GTECH's and Kansas Lottery's offices are in the same building in Topeka.

Van Petten said Fisher was GTECH's liaison to the lottery. "If we had a complaint, we called her," he said.

At first glance, Van Petten said, Fisher's complaint doesn't make sense because "there would be no benefit to GTECH to make asses of us when we have the ability to cancel their contract and put it back out for bids.

"And there are a lot of companies out there that would want to bid," he said. "It's a very competitive business."