Court: Man Can Sue Over Surprise Pregnancy
If this doesn’t win Stupid Lawsuit of the Decade then the eventual winner is going to be a real doozy:
CHICAGO (AP) – An appeals court said a man can press a claim for emotional distress after learning a former lover had used his sperm to have a baby. But he can’t claim theft, the ruling said, because the sperm were hers to keep.
There’s the quote. And with it comes an admonition to the men: keep your pants fastened because it could happen to you too.
Here are the facts:
- Dr. Richard Phillips had an affair with Dr. Sharon A. Irons some six years ago.
- During the course of this affair they engaged in some oral sex.
- Dr. Irons did not swallow.
- But because either her biological clock was atickin’, she wanted to really “show him,” or because she was “in love” Dr. Irons used the semen from the oral sex to inseminate herself.
- She sued for child support.
Now, if I’m Dr. Phillips, I’m scratching my head (no, not that head you pervert) and wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. More especially when the paternity test comes back and finds that I’m really the father. Thus, he loses and is ordered to pay $800 per month in child support.
Well, not to be outdone in the legal field, Dr. Phillips sues Dr. Irons for intentional infliction of emotional distress. This is the case under appeal.
Irons responded that her alleged actions weren’t “truly extreme and outrageous” and that Phillips’ pain wasn’t bad enough to merit a lawsuit. The circuit court agreed and dismissed Phillips’ lawsuit in 2003.
But the higher court ruled that, if Phillips’ story is true, Irons “deceitfully engaged in sexual acts, which no reasonable person would expect could result in pregnancy, to use plaintiff’s sperm in an unorthodox, unanticipated manner yielding extreme consequences.”
So, the intentional infliction of emotional distress claims are revived. But he also sued for theft and fraud. Those claims remain dismissed.
The reasoning?
“She asserts that when plaintiff ‘delivered’ his sperm, it was a gift – an absolute and irrevocable transfer of title to property from a donor to a donee,” the decision said. “There was no agreement that the original deposit would be returned upon request.”
So, if you can’t keep it in your pants, at least make sure you ask for your sperm to be returned.
MickC @ February 24, 2005