Geico Owes $5.2M To Woman Who Got STD From Car Sex, Judges Say

JACKSON COUNTY, MO — A woman who contracted a sexually-transmitted disease in a vehicle insured by Geico is owed $5.2 million, a Missouri appeals court ruled this week, despite objections from the insurance company.

Geico appealed the 2021 legal decision but was denied Tuesday by Missouri’s Court of Appeals of the Western District.

The case that led to the legal battle began in late 2017, when a woman, referred to in court documents only as M.O., had unprotected sex with a Geico policy-holder in the man’s vehicle, causing M.O. to contract anogenital human papillomavirus. The woman then submitted a $1 million settlement offer to Geico — citing medical expenses and suffering brought on by the disease — which the insurance company denied, court records said.

M.O. and her former sexual partner entered arbitration, where she requested $9.9 million and was awarded $5.2 million on the grounds that her former partner should have disclosed his diagnosis prior to engaging in sexual activity, according to court documents. Following the arbitrator’s finding, M.O. sought the damages in Jackson County court and was granted the $5.2 million, a decision Geico appealed, court records said.

Geico filed a motion to intervene on the matter before the award was given in court, but the company was not allowed intervener status until after the $5.2 million judgment was made, court documents said. The appeals court judges found the timing of when Geico was approved as an intervener to be within the scope of the law, according to court records.

“At the time of GEICO’s intervention, liability and damages had been determined by an arbitrator and confirmed by the trial court,” two of the three judges said in a written opinion. “GEICO had no right to relitigate those issues. … Nor did GEICO possess a right to intervene prior to entry of judgment.”

Geico had the opportunity to protect its interests by entering a defense of insured, but it instead denied coverage, according to the opinion, which noted the company is also seeking a determination of its obligations in federal court.

In a concurring opinion, Judge Thomas Chapman, of the state appeals court, took issue with some aspects of Tuesday’s finding.

“I believe the result we reach ignores the independent right the legislature granted the insurer to represent its own interests (regardless of its denial of coverage), and makes that statutory right of intervention a virtual nullity, relegating the insurer to the status of a bystander,” he said.

Geico referenced the federal action when asked to comment on the appeals decision.

“The question of whether there is coverage for this matter will be determined by case 22-cv-00082-CV-W-FJG in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri,” the company’s communication department said in an email.

A voice message seeking comment from M.O.’s attorney was not immediately returned Friday afternoon.