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A woman who contracted HPV after having sex in a Geico-insured vehicle has officially won her multi-million dollar payout.
Last week, a three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the women’s victory, CNN reports.
Anonymously identified as “M.O.” in court documents, her win came despite Geico’s appeal efforts, the outlet further detailed.
M.O. and her partner had unprotected sex in the car insured by Geico in late 2017, according to Revolt.
She was later diagnosed with Human papillomavirus (HPV) the following year, and sent in a petition to Geico in February 2021.
The Jackson County resident argued in court documents that her partner contributed to causing her to be “infected with HPV by not taking proper precautions and neglecting to inform and/or disclose his diagnosis.”
Additionally, M.O.’s filing asked that the man’s “insurance policy [provide] coverage for her injuries and losses.”
The Missouri Court of Appeals sent the case to an arbitrator when Geico denied coverage and M.O.’s settlement offer of $1 million.
Court documents disclosed that the arbitrator determined “there was sexual activity in [the insured’s] automobile” that “directly caused, or directly contributed to cause” M.O.’s HPV infection by her partner.
On June 14, the three-judge panel of the Missouri Court of Appeals sided with the Jackson County Circuit Court’s settlement decision of $5.2 million.
“At the time of GEICO’s intervention, liability and damages had been determined by an arbitrator and confirmed by the trial court. [Therefore,] GEICO had no right to relitigate those issues,” the court said, in an opinion.
Moreover, the panel noted if Geico hadn’t avoided covering M.O.’s partner’s insurance, they could have avoided the multi-million dollar payout.
“GEICO did not take advantage of this opportunity, and instead denied coverage and refused to defend Insured.”
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