An instance of car sex, though never truly a private matter, is perhaps becoming more public than the involved parties would have initially anticipated due to a high-dollar lawsuit.
A woman, identified only as M.O., is seeking $1 million from GEICO in connection with allegedly contracting HPV in a vehicle said to have been insured by the company. A countersuit has also been triggered, with the company pointing out that the woman (and a man identified only as M.B.) had previously entered into an agreement to settle M.O.’s claim and limit M.B.’s liability. This agreement, which the company said they were not made aware of, resulted in M.O. being free to pursue recovery from GEICO.
In court documents filed on Oct. 4 and viewed by Complex, GEICO sought a declaratory judgment to determine the company’s rights and obligations for its insured having allegedly spread anogenital human papillomavirus (HPV) to the woman. Filings in the case claim that M.O. and M.B. initiated a sexual relationship in late 2017 during which they had unprotected sex in the latter’s 2014 Hyundai Genesis.
The peculiar case is a dicey one, as legal trade publication ABA Journal points out, with M.O. having claimed a lack of personal jurisdiction in Kansas because the instance of car sex occurred in Missouri. Furthermore, while one might assume that the nature of the case equates to heightened privacy concerns, U.S. Magistrate Judge Angel D. Mitchell noted in the Oct. 4 document why that isn’t necessarily true.
Mitchell said “any allegedly private details became less private (although the court questions how private those details actually were if they were having sex in a car) when M.O. sent GEICO a demand letter making an insurance coverage claim.” This action, Mitchell added, effectively brought “any arguably private matters” into the public sphere.
Moving forward, GEICO is expected to file an amended complaint in which the parties will be identified beyond merely initials.
Complex has reached out to a GEICO rep for additional comment.
