A South Whitehall Township man is among the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit filed against DraftKings, accusing the company of exploiting his gambling addiction.

Avi Setton is one of five Pennsylvania men who sued the Boston-based gambling services provider last week in federal court. He claims he gambled away $350,000 after he asked DraftKings to close his account.

The lawsuit accuses DraftKings of targeting gamblers on self-exclusion lists. Allowing patrons to gamble online is too dangerous for those struggling with addiction, it says.

The lawsuit alleges that DraftKings promises risk-free promotional bets to trick gamblers into wagering and losing their own money, leading them to gamble increasingly until their funds are exhausted.

“Some customers have developed gambling addictions and lost thousands or — in the case of some of the plaintiffs — hundreds of thousands of dollars,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit says Setton asked to close his account in 2020 due to his gambling problem. The account remained open and Setton wound up losing $350,000 by 2024, the suit says. DraftKings closed the account in 2024, citing the 2020 request, the lawsuit says.

The four additional plaintiffs are:

• Robert Walker of Folcroft
• Kenneth Macek of Pittsburgh
• Matthew Harner of Reading
• Lionel Alicea of Scranton

The lawsuit asks U.S. District Judge Joseph F. Leeson Jr. to certify the proposed classes and to determine that DraftKings policies violate consumer protection laws. It seeks unspecified damages.

The lawsuit was filed April 18 in Allentown by Chicago attorneys Isaac Green and Michael Kanovitz, and Washington, D.C., attorney Amelia Maxfield.