GEICO has launched a legal fight to ensure it doesn’t have to pay millions of dollars to a woman who got a sexually transmitted disease after having sex with a man in his car, which is insured by the company.
Lawyers for the insurance company filed a lawsuit in federal court last year asking the judge to declare it isn’t liable for the payment. But the case has gotten increased attention after a state court upheld the woman’s $5.2 million arbitration award this month against her ex-lover, a GEICO customer.
“It’s POSSIBLE that a court will eventually rule that GEICO is on the hook for the liability that has been determined by the arbitrator. But — again — that hasn’t happened yet,” said Harvard Law School professor John Goldberg, who is not involved in the case but noted that the insurance company would likely rather settle the dispute than set an expansive precedent.
The case arose after a woman, identified as M.O. in court papers, contracted the anogenital human papillomavirus from a man, identified as M.B., after having sex with him in his vehicle in 2017.
The woman claimed that he had acted negligently because he did not disclose his infection, and she sought a payout of $1 million from GEICO for her illness.
The insurance company denied the claim and subsequently launched its legal fight to ensure it wouldn’t be liable for payment.
Meanwhile, the woman and the man entered into arbitration, and the arbitrator awarded her $5.2 million.
M.O. sought to enforce the award through a trial court. GEICO moved to intervene and defend its position that it wasn’t liable for the man’s payment.
The trial court granted both requests, siding with the woman while allowing GEICO to intervene in the legal battle. GEICO appealed in state court, arguing that its interests weren’t fully heard by the trial court, but the appellate court panel rejected that argument.
“At the time of GEICO’s intervention, liability and damages had been determined by an arbitrator and confirmed by the trial court. GEICO had no right to relitigate those issues,” the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District ruled.
In a legal blog post, Howard Wasserman, a law professor at Florida International University, said the media coverage of the “salacious” case has been misleading, suggesting that GEICO is on the hook to pay the woman for her HPV infection.
“The court did not consider, address, or decide that GEICO must pay this award or that (and this is where everyone wants to make jokes) auto insurance covers injuries arising from sexual activity in a car because sex in a car is ’normal’ use of the vehicle,” Mr. Wasserman wrote. “This decision — the one prompting this media coverage — brings us no closer to resolving the question of GEICO’s obligation to pay.”
Instead, the federal court will hold a trial in October to determine GEICO’s position — if any — in the payout.
Lawyers representing the company, the woman and the man did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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