Payback is a ‘mutha.’ That’s what one man literally learned the hard way after having an affair with a North Carolina man’s wife. In August, Greg Jernigan was ordered to pay Kevin Howard $750,000 in damages for breaking up his marriage, reported The Charlotte Observer.
According to The Washington Post (WP), North Carolina is one of a handful of states that still have laws which allow husbands and wives to sue their spouse’s lover(s). They date back to the 1800s.
Howard and his now ex-wife, Julie George, were married for 12 years and had two children. Howard said Jernigan “did things purposely” that interfered with his marriage. He sued him for causing “alienation of affection” and having “criminal conversation” – which is an old school way to refer to having sex since it was impolite to openly discuss sex in public back in the day.
“I filed the case because I feel it’s very important that people understand that the sanctity of marriage is important, especially in this day and age when people question everyone’s morals, people question everyone’s viability as a person. And the state backed me up on it,” Howard said in an interview with WITN.
He discussed the toll going through the divorce took on him. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to face. It was like someone calling you and telling you that a family member had just suddenly and tragically died,” Howard said. “I have scars and I have still a lot of healing to do.”
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While cases like Howard’s are rare to win, they are not unheard of. There are several other alienation of affection cases, including one in which the husband was awarded $8.8 million dollars in damages.
If morality isn’t enough to make one think before they creep, maybe having present and future assets subject to collection by a jilted spouse is. Being a homewrecker is costly – and that doesn’t just apply to the toll it takes on the brokenhearted.
