A woman has been awarded a whooping Ksh. 591 million from a car insurance company after she got infected with STD while having sex in the back of her partner’s Hyundai.
The woman, M.O. as referred in court documents stated that she contracted human papillomavirus, HPV, from her partner while they were having sex of the back of his car.
The Hyundai was insured by GEICO General Insurance Company and in Feb 2021 she notified the company that she intends to seek compensation for the damages she received from their client.
According to the court documents, the man already knew that he had HPV and throat cancer but continued to have sex with M.O. without notifying her of the said risks which directly caused the infection.
The Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that the man was liable, and hence the woman was awarded Ksh 591 million as a settlement. This money was to be paid by GEICO Insurance company.
After the Jackson County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the woman, the insurance firm took the case to Missouri Court of Appeals. The firm argued that the judgment violated their rights to due process and the settlement was unenforceable.
A panel of three judges looked into the case and concluded that the judgment was valid and the insurance firm must pay the Ksh. 591 million settlement.
“After M.O. contracted anogenital human papillomavirus, she submitted a settlement offer to GEICO, asserting Insured negligently infected her with the disease during sexual encounters in his automobile, and that Insured’s GEICO-issued automobile insurance policy provided coverage for her injuries and losses,” The ruling from Missouri Court read in part.
“…The arbitrator found Insured negligently infected M.O. with HPV and awarded her Ksh. 591 million in damages.
“…In 2017, M.O. and Insured began a romantic relationship, effective at that time was an automobile insurance policy issued by GEICO to Insured.
“On February 25, 2021, M.O. submitted to GEICO a copy of a petition she intended to file against Insured, and made a final settlement offer to resolve her ‘claims against Insured for the applicable limits of Ksh. 117 million’.
“The petition attached to the settlement offer alleged that during ‘November and early of December of 2017’, Insured and M.O. engaged in unprotected sexual activities in Insured’s vehicle, and during those sexual encounters, Insured ‘negligently caused or contributed to cause M.O. to be infected with HPV by not taking proper precautions and neglecting to inform and/or disclose his diagnosis’, despite ‘having knowledge of his condition.”
Los Angeles personal injury attorney Miguel Custodio, told the Daily Mail that: “If you think about it as an injury sustained while in that person’s vehicle, then it totally falls within what an insurance company would be required to pay.
“Usually, injuries to passengers are the result of a collision or slamming the door on one’s fingers, that sort of thing. But while a lawsuit over contracting an STD from the insured driver may be the first of its kind, this award shows that it’s not a stretch for someone to file against an insurance company for any actions occurring in a motor vehicle.
“The lesson to be learned here is that people need to broaden the scope of what an injury is. Most people would not think that contracting this disease is an injury suffered in a vehicle — though it definitely is.”
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