BOSTON (CN) — A couple who spent almost seven years litigating over who gets to keep a ring after calling off their three-month engagement brought their squabble to the Massachusetts Supreme Court on Friday, with the justices appearing both amused and uncomfortable at having to pass judgment on a romantic imbroglio.
Bruce Johnson gave a $70,000 Tiffany ring to Caroline Settino when they got engaged in August 2017. But according to Johnson, the relationship quickly went downhill — Settino began calling him a “moron,” treated him like a child, didn’t support him when he had cancer treatments and verbally abused him in public, to the point where a waitress who observed Settino’s behavior advised him, “You know, you don’t have to put up with that.”
In November, after Settino stormed off following an argument, Johnson looked through her phone and found voice messages from a man named Steven Henault who referred to Settino as “cupcake” and lamented that they didn’t spend enough time together. He also found a text in which Settino told Henault, “Bruce is going to be in Connecticut for three days. I need some playtime.”
A trial judge sided with Settino, finding that Johnson wasn’t able to prove that she had an affair and was at fault for the breakup because he was the one who canceled the engagement. To make matters worse for Johnson, the judge ordered him to make good on an earlier promise to pay for Settino to have dental surgery.
Some other states have adopted a “no-fault” approach and say that if a marriage doesn’t go through, the giver of the ring gets it back no matter who was responsible. That’s the rule in Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico and Wisconsin.
Montana has a different approach: a ring is simply a gift and the recipient can keep it no matter what.