Old man wins lawsuit to reclaim $70,000 engagement ring

After six years of litigation, an elderly man won his lawsuit to get back his valuable engagement ring after he called off the engagement because he believed his fiancée had feelings for someone else.

Expensive ring at the center of Massachusetts lawsuit

A Massachusetts court (USA) on November 7 ruled that a failed bride must return her $70,000 engagement ring (1.77 billion VND) to her ex-fiancé, after the planned marriage was canceled.

Bruce Johnson, 67, has been in a legal dispute with his ex-girlfriend, Caroline Settino, 59, after he broke off their engagement, according to Reuters. Johnson is a former engineer at Siemens, while Settino is a retired teacher.

Mr Johnson called off their planned 2017 wedding after discovering text messages between Ms Settino and another man he suspected she was having an affair with. Ms Settino denied the allegations and said the man was a longtime friend.

In 2018, he sued to get back the Tiffany & Co. ring he had given him, but a judge found him guilty and liable. However, an appeals court overturned that decision, leading to the latest state high court ruling.

In its ruling, the court said it was updating its approach to similar cases and joining a "modern trend" in which many states treat engagement rings as gifts that must be returned to the giver.

Ms. Settino’s lawyer, Nicholas Rosenberg, said the ruling was disappointing, and “the idea of ​​an engagement ring as a conditional gift is rooted in outdated notions.” Mr. Johnson’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Ring lawsuits are essentially the last remaining form of litigation recognized by U.S. courts regarding annulments, after states in the 1930s began abolishing the "emotional comfort" claims that women could previously pursue when a promise of marriage was annulled.

Most states initially adopted the approach adopted by a Massachusetts court in 1959, which held that the giver of the engagement ring had the right to have it returned if he or she was not "at fault" in canceling the wedding.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/cu-ong-thang-kien-doi-lai-nhan-dinh-hon-70000-usd-185241109093941416.htm