STD contracted during car sex isn't covered by GEICO auto policy, federal judge rules
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A federal judge in the Western District of Missouri has ruled for GEICO in a lawsuit seeking a declaratory judgment that its auto policy doesn’t cover damages for a sexually transmitted disease contracted during car sex.
U.S. District Judge Fernando J. Gaitan Jr. ruled in a March 10 opinion that car sex doesn’t constitute “use” of the vehicle as required by GEICO’s insurance policy.
The Volokh Conspiracy noted the decision.
The policy holder, Martin Brauner, had contended that GEICO is responsible for paying damages to his sexual partner, identified as M.O. in the litigation. M.O. had obtained a $5.2 million arbitration award against Brauner in May 2021 for contracting human papillomavirus in his 2014 Hyundai Genesis.
GEICO sought a federal declaratory judgment after M.O filed a petition in Missouri state court to affirm the $5.2 million award. M.O. and Brauner had agreed before the arbitration that any award would be paid by Brauner’s insurers, rather than Brauner.
A state court had affirmed the arbitration award, but the decision was overturned by the Missouri Supreme Court in January. The state supreme court said GEICO should have been given a chance to intervene before the trial judge ruled.
The policy language at issue in the federal litigation reads:
“Under Section I, we will pay damages which an insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of:
1. Bodily injury, sustained by a person, and:
2. Damage to or destruction of property, arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned auto or a nonowned auto.”
Brauner and M.O. had contended that the language about use of the auto only applies to property damage claims—not to bodily injury claims. They noted that the policy has since been modified by paragraph spacing so that it reads:
“Under Section I, we will pay damages which an insured becomes legally obligated to pay because of:
1. Bodily injury, sustained by a person, and:
2. Damage to or destruction of property,
arising out of the ownership, maintenance or use of the owned auto or a nonowned auto.”
Gaitan, an appointee of former President George H.W. Bush, rejected the argument by Brauner and M.O.
Other policy provisions “do not support the idea that the policy is a general liability policy covering all bodily injuries caused by an insured, regardless of their connection with an automobile,” Gaitan said.
Gaitan then considered whether sex in a car constitutes a covered use of the vehicle. Brauner had argued that sexual relations in a car is a common, foreseeable use of a vehicle. He pointed to an article in the Journal of Sex Research that reported on an anonymous survey of 195 men and 511 women at a small midwestern university.
Gaitan said he reviewed the article, and he “is dubious that such study stands for the broad proposition asserted by defendant Brauner that 50% or more of all American adults have engaged in such behavior.”
“The court finds that consensual sexual relations inside a car do not constitute a ‘use’ of the automobile within the meaning of the subject policy,” Gaitan said.
See also:
ABAJournal.com: “Litigants claiming GEICO auto policy covers STD from car sex can’t proceed anonymously, judge rules”
ABAJournal.com: “GEICO can’t relitigate $5.2M award for car-sex STD after refusing to defend car owner, appeals court rules”
