Khalifa v. Shannon

Under a divorce decree, Shannon (plaintiff) and Khalifa (defendant) each had custody of one child and visitation with the other; while both children were in Khalifa's physical custody, she deceived Shannon about a planned trip and took both children to Egypt, keeping them there against his will even though physical custody of both was due to transfer to him. Shannon sued for tortious interference with custody and visitation, and the trial court found for him and awarded compensatory and punitive damages; Khalifa appealed, arguing no such tort claim existed.