Insurance company ordered to pay woman $5.2 million after claim she caught STD from male partner during sex in his car



Insurance company Geico has been ordered to fork over $5.2 million to a Missouri woman on the heels of her claim she caught an STD after having sex with a male partner in his car, which was insured by Geico.

Say what?

A Missouri court on Tuesday upheld a judgment awarding the money to the woman —referred to as "M.O." in court documents — who claimed she caught the human papillomavirus after having sex in 2017 with a male partner in his 2014 Hyundai Genesis, CBS News reported, citing a 2021 complaint.

The woman learned in 2018 she had HPV and claimed the man also knew he had it but failed to tell her, leaving her with "past and future medical expenses" and "mental and physical pain and suffering," CBS News added.

The woman told Geico she was pursuing legal action against the man, claiming she was negligently infected in the vehicle and that the car insurance policy should provide coverage for her injuries and losses, the network reported.

M.O. asked Geico for $1 million, CBS News said, citing the complaint — and she wrote, "Let me know."

Uh, no

Geico denied the coverage and rejected her claim, the network said. With that, the woman and man entered arbitration, and the arbitrator found the man negligently infected her and awarded damages of $5.2 million to M.O. to be paid by Geico, CBS News added.

Geico appealed the arbitrator's decision, but the Missouri court ruled that Geico had no legal grounds to appeal on several points, the network said. While Geico claimed it was "denied the right to litigate its interests before judgment was entered against its insured," CBS News reported that the court said Geico had a chance to do so when the woman contacted the insurance company claiming it should cover her injury and losses.

"Geico did not take advantage of this opportunity, and instead denied coverage and refused to defend Insured," the court noted, according to the network.

CBS News said Geico didn't immediately respond to its request for comment.

Woman sues Geico after getting STD during sex in a car covered by the insurer. But Geico is calling the lawsuit a sham.



A woman in Missouri has filed a lawsuit against Geico claiming that she contracted a sexually transmitted disease from a man after the two had sex inside a car covered by the insurance provider — but Geico is calling the claim a sham.

What happened?

In the controversial liability lawsuit filed against Geico, the woman claimed she has the right to a coverage claim after having unprotected sex across state lines in her then-lover's Hyundai Genesis in 2017 and later finding out that she had contracted human papillomavirus, or HPV, as a result, the Daily Mail reported.

The car is insured under her former sexual partner's name. Both the woman and her partner have chosen to remain anonymous in legal proceedings — she is identified as M.O. while he is identified as M.B.

After her diagnosis, the woman entered legal talks with her partner without Geico's knowledge, and the two reached an agreement in state court allowing her to collect $5.2 million, which "she can collect, if at all, only from GEICO," court documents reportedly revealed.

Following the state court judgment, the woman then pursued a coverage claim against the insurance provider, seeking a massive payout of $1 million.

What else?

But Geico has since responded by filing a lawsuit of its own with the U.S. District Court for the District of Kansas, seeking to have the case dismissed.

In the countersuit, the insurance provider essentially calls "bull" on the woman's claim, arguing its auto policy only applies to bodily injuries arising "out of the ownership, maintenance, or use of" the automobile.

The company goes on to say: "M.O.'s alleged damages have no nexus to the ownership, maintenance, or covered use of the 2014 Hyundai Genesis. In other words, the vehicle's covered use did not cause M.O.'s alleged injuries; instead, her injuries arose from an intervening cause—namely, her failure to prevent transmission of STDs by having unprotected sex."

The Daily Mail reported that Geico is also accusing the couple of "conspiring to capitalize on a sordid situation that they themselves created, and is questioning why the pair refuse to make their identities public."

Specifically, "Geico contends that M.O. and M.B.'s 'secret' arbitration was collusive and a sham," the company states in the suit.

Anything else?

Thus far, the court appears to have agreed with Geico, citing precedent from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"While many people would prefer to keep details about their sex lives private, the Tenth Circuit has repeatedly made clear that the risk that a party may suffer some embarrassment by being named in the pleadings is not enough to allow them to proceed anonymously," the court reasoned in court documents pertaining to the case.

"'In general, parties who assert damage claims should expect some level of public exposure in employing the courts to resolve their disputes," it added.

A ruling in the case is still forthcoming.