Jilted N.C. Wife Wins $1 Million Judgment Against `Other Woman'

A North Carolina woman who sued her husband's mistress for breaking up their 19-year marriage was awarded $1 million in damages by a jury.

With their judgment, jurors in Graham, N.C., essentially agreed with 40-year-old Dorothy Hutelmyer, the jilted spouse, who contended that her husband was enticed into an affair by his secretary, Margie Cox. James Hutelmyer, an insurance-company executive, divorced his wife earlier this year and subsequently married Cox, who is now known as Margie Hutelmyer.

"I think the people in our community are saying with this verdict that families are important," said Dorothy Hutelmyer's attorney, James Walker.

Wayne Abernathy, Margie Hutelmyer's attorney, declined to comment except to say he would appeal the judgment.

Dorothy Hutelmyer's lawsuit is the result of an old, seldom-used provision in North Carolina law, which provides a spouse legal recourse if a third party disrupts the marriage's intimacy, most typically through adultery.

In a similar case earlier this year, a jury awarded $86,000 to a woman whose husband left her for another woman. But a $1 million verdict was thought to be unprecedented.

During the seven-day trial, witnesses described Margie Hutelmyer as a "matronly" woman who changed after her own marriage broke up in 1991. She began wearing makeup and shorter skirts, Walker said, and co-workers noticed that she and her boss were spending an increasing amount of time together.

Margie Hutelmyer acknowledged that an affair between the two began in 1994, Walker said. James Hutelmyer moved out of his family's home last year, and filed for divorce, which was finalized in March, Walker said. He and Dorothy Hutelmyer have three children.

Jurors deliberated for less than three hours before awarding Hutelmyer $500,000 in compensatory damages and another $500,000 in punitive damages.