Issue

Criminal conversation—unidentified lover—summary judgment—evidence of post-separation dating relationship—mere conjecture

Summary

The trial court properly granted summary judgment for defendant on plaintiff's claims for alienation of affection and criminal conversation, where plaintiff's wife began a romantic relationship with defendant about three months after separating from plaintiff and over a year after admitting to plaintiff that, while they were still married, she had had sexual intercourse with an unidentified coworker. Although evidence of post-separation conduct may be used at the summary judgment phase to corroborate evidence of pre-separation conduct, plaintiff's evidence regarding the pre-separation affair between his wife and the unidentified coworker did not give rise to anything more than "mere conjecture" that defendant was that same coworker; consequently, the evidence failed to support the malice prong of plaintiff's alienation of affection claim and the sexual intercourse element of his criminal conversation claim.

Summary from the North Carolina Reports digest (official subject index). Read the opinion →