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Court Restores Man's Lawsuit Against Cheating Wife's Lover

An appeals court in Forsyth County has ruled on a case revolving around an alleged extramarital affair, which means the jilted husband's lawsuit against his wife's lover can proceed.

North Carolina is one of six states that have what are known as “alienation of affection laws” on the books. The laws allow people to sue their spouse's lover if they can prove the defendant caused the couple's marriage to fall apart. The state also has a law addressing “criminal conversation," the legal term for extramarital sex.

The state Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that a trial court was wrong to throw out Marc Malecek's lawsuit. The decision now resurrects the case he filed over what he said was his wife's affair with a doctor at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center where she works as a nurse. Malacek is seeking $100,000 in damages.

The Winston-Salem Journal reports this is the first time the North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled on the constitutionality of alienation of affection.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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