(CN) - An insurance executive will not have to face claims that he sent an employee on distant business trips to cuckold him, the North Dakota Supreme Court ruled.
Karl Moseng and his wife Vicki worked together at Hartland Mutual Insurance Co., reporting to supervisor Lynn Frey for over 20 years.
In a civil complaint, Karl complained that Frey often sent him on distant business trips between 1988 and 1991 to facilitate an affair with Vicki. The complaint for negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress also accused Frey and the company of concealing the tryst.
A judge in Ward County, N.D., dismissed the suit, and the state Supreme Court affirmed.
The five-judge appellate panel agreed that Karl's complaint was, at its core, an alienation-of-affection claim, which is no longer on the books in North Dakota.
Karl had tried to claim that the defendants violated their duties as employers by sending him on the trips, but court was not persuaded.
"Karl Moseng cannot recover damages stemming from emotional distress resulting from sexual liaisons between Vicki Moseng and Frey," Justice Daniel Crothers wrote for the court. "Karl Moseng's negligence claims are disguised claims for alienation of affections and are therefore legally insufficient."
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