Usher Herpes: Laura Helm has filed a lawsuit against Usher, alleging that he willfully infected her with the herpes simplex 2 virus (HSV-2).
Usher believes he had no “duty of care” to Helm and that she was aware of the dangers of unprotected intercourse.
According to BOSSIP, Helm claims
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According to BOSSIP, Helm claims that Usher Raymond exposed her to genital herpes during sexual sessions in 2017 and that he didn’t tell her that he had been diagnosed with the incurable STD in 2009 or 2010. After experiencing symptoms and reading online headlines of Usher’s purported diagnosis, she claims she tested positive.
Helm filed a $10 million lawsuit against Usher as “Jane Doe” in the summer of 2017, which was later increased to $20 million after she was diagnosed with HSV-2. Helm was able to refile after the complaint was dismissed without prejudice, and she did so in Fulton County Superior Court after switching counsel.
Her lawsuit claims negligence, fraud, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, and she is seeking unspecified monetary damages for the physical and emotional harm she has suffered as a result of the HSV-2 diagnosis.
Usher, through his attorney Steve Sadow, believes Helm might have been asymptomatic before testing positive and could have contracted the infection from someone else, in addition to claiming he owed him no duty of care. He is requesting that the case be dismissed and that Helm be ordered to pay his legal bills.
Georgia Law on Negligence | Usher Herpes
However, things don’t appear to be going well for Usher in terms of negligence. The Georgia Court of Appeals stated in a 1985 decision involving the transmission of herpes that sexual partners owe each other “the same obligation that every individual owes another: the need to exert ordinary care not to damage others.”
Furthermore, the Georgia Supreme Court clearly noted that a person might be “held responsible in tort for negligently or purposefully infecting [a plaintiff] with herpes, a sexually transmitted disease,” referencing the appellate judgement from 2002.
There is undoubtedly enough evidence in Helm’s complaint to proceed and allow a jury to assess whether the facts support Helm’s claim that Usher broke his duty of care to her and if that breach was the primary cause of her injuries.
Under the state’s “assumption of risk” defence, Usher’s claim that Helm was aware of the dangers of unprotected sex is a bit of a stretch, especially since it may be difficult to show, as required by Georgia law, that the plaintiff was aware of the danger.
Understood and appreciated the risks associated with the danger, and voluntarily exposed herself to those risks. In addition, Georgia stipulates that “a plaintiff who assumes a risk must subjectively possess knowledge of the unique, particular risk of harm linked with the activity or circumstance that proximately produces injury.”
Arguing that everyone in today’s culture is aware of and acknowledges the dangers of unprotected sex isn’t “specific” or “particular” enough, and would effectively nullify the state supreme court’s declaration that a defendant can be held accountable for carelessly transmitting herpes.
If such were the case, defendants in such cases would simply have to state, “Hey, everyone knows unprotected sex is harmful!” Isn’t the case over?”
To put it another way, a dismissal at this point is quite unlikely.
In fact, based on publicly accessible evidence, a settlement is the most likely outcome in this case.
Other Charges Leveled Against Usher
Radar Online released docs in July 2017 from a lawsuit filed by a “famous stylist” who claimed Usher had infected her with herpes. Usher allegedly settled for $1.1 million in 2012, according to Radar Online. There are other other lawsuits that are comparable.
Attorney Lisa Bloom said in August 2017 that she is representing two other women and one male who allege that Usher also infected them to HSV-2.
“People with herpes must either warn their sexual partners or refrain from intercourse,” says the law “At a press conference, Bloom stated. “”Those are your only options.”
Indeed, in California, spreading a communicable disease like herpes is a misdemeanour punishable by up to a year in prison and fines.
“Everyone, including those who have been swept away by a superstar, is deserving of respect,” she says “Bloom said. “And all we need is for Mr. Raymond to openly declare whether he has herpes and, if so, to inform all of his previous sexual partners. None of these allegations have been refuted by him.”
Generally, STD Lawsuits | Usher Herpes
Could you sue or be sued for being exposed to an STD?
State rules differ, but the answer is yes in the vast majority of cases, and a big jury reward is a distinct possibility. Patricia Behr, the ex-girlfriend of millionaire Thomas Redmond, who claimed he had infected her with herpes, was awarded $6.75 million by a jury in 2011.
More than one in six people aged 14 to 49 have genital herpes, according to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), which means two things for the sake of our discussion:
1. Your odds of being named in an STD lawsuit aren’t as remote as you might believe; and
2. Withholding information about an STD from a sexual partner might be a costly mistake.
Kids, be careful out there!
Usher has denied having herpes, according to his interim manager Grace Akinlemibola.
In an email, Akinlemibola claimed, “He has stated this truth on multiple occasions.” “Many of Usher’s cases were filed by people who did not really have the illness.”
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