Jeffrey Kinner couldn't persuade Marie Glinka to walk with him down the aisle, so he's dragging her into court.
Kinner has filed a $25,000 lawsuit against Glinka in Hillsborough County Circuit Court, citing "extreme humiliation and anguish" since she broke off their engagement.Kinner, 32, said the breakup cost him thousands of dollars in wedding preparations and also aggravated his ulcers.
"I paid her phone bills, bought an engagement ring and tons of flowers," Kinner said Friday. "Now, I want my money back."
Glinka, 42, said she owes him nothing.
"I think he has mental problems," she said. "I can't believe he's doing this to me."
Such cases were common until the 1940s, when breach of promise lawsuits were outlawed, said Chief Circuit Judge James Lenfestey, who will not be presiding over the Kinner lawsuit.
"Anyone, any time, can file suit against anybody," the judge said. "You could sue the mayor tomorrow for $6 million, but the trick is to prevail."
Kinner says everything seemed perfect when they first met in August. He manages a Tampa store. She handled the store's account at Barnett Bank.
He wooed her with roses. After three weeks, they became engaged at a pancake house in St. Augustine.
"Everything was so perfect," he said. "When I came up, her eyes would twinkle."
But Glinka started having second thoughts about the marriage.
"I was coming from a bad relationship, and he seemed like a perfect guy," she said. "I shouldn't have done it (become engaged) but I was confused. He presented himself as something he wasn't. This is a horror."