Woman wins $5.5M in heart balm action against neighbor

Action: Alienation of affection/criminal conversation

Injuries alleged: Loss of love and affection and companionship, mental anguish, loss of society, shame, loss of support from husband, injury to plaintiff’s reputation, and humiliation

Case name: Richards v. Burkhart

Court/case no.: 24CV0000063-150

Jury and/or judge: Jury trial before Judge Bob R. Cherry

Demand: $200,000

Highest offer: $20,000

Amount: $5,562,000

Date: Oct. 13, 2025

Attorneys: Sundee Stephenson and Bradley Schulz of Schulz Stephenson Law in Beaufort (for the plaintiff)

The plaintiff, a nurse anesthetist, had been married to her husband for 19 years, and the defendant, a stay-at-home mother who lived in the same subdivision as plaintiff, began a romantic relationship with plaintiff’s husband, a stay-at-home father. Cell phone records show significant contact between the two, escalating to 40 hours of phone calls over the last two months before their relationship was discovered. Plaintiff’s husband and defendant also used apps to communicate, where messages were deleted after being received. The defendant did not testify during the seven-day trial, but her deposition testimony and discovery responses were utilized by plaintiff. The plaintiff’s special damages were approximately $30,000, including private investigator charges and counseling. Defendant did call plaintiff’s husband to testify, but counsel believes that his testimony did not help defendant. The court ruled, in limine, at request of plaintiff, after examining the pattern jury charge, that the parties could only solicit testimony relating to the status of the marriage for the five years prior to separation. The court denied defendant’s motion for a new trial. Plaintiff’s counsel believes the verdict is one of the highest, if not the highest, in the Carteret County Superior Court for compensatory and punitive damages in a tort case.