ALIENATIONS OF AFFECTIONS; CRIMINAL CONVERSATION; PUNITIVE DAMAGES

Type of action: Alienations of affections; criminal conversation; punitive damages

Injuries alleged: Injury to marital relationship

Name of case: Sitterson v. Miller

Court/county: Rowan

Case no.: 04 CvS 112

Tried before: Jury

Name of judge: Mark Klass

Special damages: n/a

Verdict/settlement: Verdict

Amount: $750,000 — $400,000 for alienation of affections; $100,000 for criminal conversation; $250,000 in punitive damages

Date obtained: May 18, 2005

Demand: n/a

Offer: n/a

Experts: n/a

Insurer: n/a

Plaintiff's attorneys: Robert L. Inge, P.A., Salisbury

Person submitting: Lynda Kirkpatrick, paralegal

Description: The plaintiff alleged that her husband, a dentist from Charlotte, left her after 17 years of marriage for his dental assistant. The plaintiff and her husband had a 10-year-old daughter. The plaintiff claimed that the defendant dental assistant engaged in a romantic and sexual relationship with her husband before the couple separated, destroying the plaintiff's marriage. The defendant and the plaintiff's husband began co-habiting shortly after the separation, the complaint stated.

The $750,000 jury verdict is believed to be the largest Rowan County award for alienation of affection and the third largest heart-balm tort award in North Carolina, plaintiff's counsel states.