Jury slaps oral surgeon with $2.29M alienation of affection verdict

A Rowan County jury took a $2.29 million bite out of an oral surgeon’s wallet after finding that he splintered the marriage between his surgical assistant and her husband.

In a verdict handed down on June 25, the jury ordered Matthew Johnson to pay Gerald Sprinkle Jr. $250,000 for alienation of affection, $544,000 for criminal conversation, and $1.5 million in punitive damages.

James Davis of Davis & Davis in Salisbury, who represented Sprinkle, described his client as a police officer who had a loving, eight-year marriage with his wife, who had worked as a surgical technician for Johnson for 17 years.

The three were friends and often hung out together, Davis said. But in October 2017 Johnson made “unwanted advances” against Sprinkle’s wife during her yearly performance evaluation. That soon progressed into a sexual relationship, and later Johnson also began giving her unprescribed narcotics, according to testimony.

“She felt pressured by the doctor,” Davis said. “This was her job and her livelihood. He drugged her, dominated her, and discarded her.”

The sexual relations took place at Johnson’s home, a hotel, and at the office and ended in January 2018 after Sprinkle’s wife told him about the affair. He called the affair “devastating” to Sprinkle and his marriage. 

“There were a lot of tears in this trial,” Davis said. “It was very emotional and gut-wrenching.”

Johnson was a no-show at the trial, although the attorney representing him at the time denied most of the allegations in the lawsuit.

“The truth of the matter is that it was a much harder than the normal trial,” Davis said. “It was like having a ghost defendant. I had to literally give an explanation of the trial and what we were doing and outline it for them, as opposed to using the art of examination. You don’t have anybody to argue against. People may think it’s easy, but wait until you do that in a quiet courtroom when you have such a controversial subject.”

The attorney who had been representing Johnson withdrew from the case in April, and Johnson did not retain new counsel.

Davis said that Sprinkle and his wife remain married.

Follow Bill Cresenzo on Twitter @bcresenzonclw

VERDICT REPORT — HEART BALM LAWSUIT

Amount: $2.2 million

Injuries alleged: Alienation of affection, criminal conversation

Case name: Gerald Sprinkle Jr. v. Matthew Johnson

Court: Rowan County Superior Court

Case No.: 18-CVS-699

Judge: Anna Mills Wagoner

Date of verdict: June 25

Special damages: $1.5 million in punitive damages

Attorney for plaintiff: James Davis of Davis & Davis in Salisbury

Attorney for defendant: Withdrew before trial