Delahunty v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance

This appeal raises the issue of whether the doctrine of res judicata bars a party to a dissolution action from bringing a postdissolution action against a former spouse for damages incurred as a result of conduct that had occurred during the marriage. We conclude that, in this context, the policy considerations commonly advanced to justify the doctrine of res judi*584cata are not compelling and that the application of that doctrine to bar the subsequent action would fail to achieve the doctrine’s objectives.1

The following undisputed facts are pertinent to this appeal. In 1988, the plaintiff,…