Filed under: Basketball
Jenkins then says that he became so emotionally distressed that he thought about killing himself.
To date, I haven't heard of anyone being sued for cheating with another person's fiancee. However, I do know that in some states, you can be sued for cheating with someone else's spouse. These "alienation of affection" lawsuits are legal in several states: Hawaii, Illinois, Mississippi, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota and Utah.
The lawsuits originate from the days when a woman was considered to be a man's property. In North Carolina, verdicts of over $1 million dollars have been won. Even more interesting is that you can still sue even if you don't live in a state where such laws exist. If the alleged indiscretion took place in one of the states mentioned above, you can sue under the laws in that state.
Don't expect to see Antoine Walker give up too much loot though. The former NBA baller is allegedly broke after being arrested a few months ago when he bounced some checks to repay gambling debts. He also experienced some interesting fallout in his own love life, where his former fiancee, Evelyn Lozada, jumped ship and is now dating Chad Ochocinco. So, perhaps what goes around comes around, or gets passed around, depending on how you look at it.
At the very least, Jenkins may just need to man up and deal with it. We all play the fool in the game of love at some point, and although we'd like to get paid for our emotional distress, you've got to just keep it moving. I lost a fiancee myself once and it hurt me to the core. But your world should always be bigger than just one person....especially if that person doesn't love you.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action Resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.