Dispute over engagement ring worth $70,000 goes to Massachusetts Supreme Court

BOSTON – A dispute over who gets to keep an expensive engagement ring after a separation has made it to the highest court in Massachusetts.

The Supreme Court will soon hear arguments from lawyers representing Bruce Johnson and Caroline Settino. Johnson bought the engagement ring in question from Tiffany's in Boston for more than $70,000 in 2017 and proposed to Settino at a golf club in Harwich.

The couple planned to marry the following year, but the relationship soon fell apart. Johnson claims Settino verbally abused him, treated him like a child and did not accompany him to cancer treatment appointments.

According to court documents, the relationship ended when Johnson accused Settino of having an affair after reading a text message on her cellphone to a man that read, “My Bruce will be in Connecticut for three days. I need some free time.”

Judge rules in favor of woman in engagement ring dispute

A key question in this case is who is to blame for the breakup. Under Massachusetts law, an engagement ring is a “conditional gift” that the giver can get back if it is determined that they are “not at fault” for the end of the relationship.

A judge initially agreed with Settino, who said the man she had texted was just a friend and that Johnson was mistaken in assuming it was an affair. Therefore, the court ruled that Johnson “must bear the blame for the breakdown of this engagement” and awarded Settino the ring as well as tens of thousands of dollars for planned dental treatments that he had promised her.

Appeal court: Man should get ring back

But Johnson was successful after taking the case to the Massachusetts Court of Appeals. The appeals court ruled that it did not matter whether an affair actually took place, because Johnson could still have had good reasons to end the engagement.

“Sometimes you just can't plead fault,” the court said in its decision that Johnson should get the ring back.

The appeals court said the Supreme Court must decide whether Massachusetts should follow the example of most other states and return an engagement ring to the donor in the event of a wedding being called off, regardless of fault.

“The idea that women need to be protected and keep the engagement ring as compensation or consolation prize is sexist,” Johnson's appeal states.

Settino, meanwhile, believes Massachusetts courts should recuse themselves from scrutinizing romantic relationships. She also said Johnson gave her the receipt for the ring, implying she could keep it.

The Massachusetts Supreme Court will hear arguments in the case on September 6.