Doe v. Roe
California Court of Appeal
267 Cal. Rptr. 564 (1990)
- Written by Rose VanHofwegen, JD
Facts
In 1985, shortly after Richard Roe (defendant) asked Jane Doe (plaintiff) out, the subject of venereal diseases came up. Doe said she had none and would not put herself in a position to contract one. Roe replied, “I don’t blame you, I wouldn’t want one either,” but failed to disclose his three previous outbreaks of genital herpes. The two dated for four months, having sex without condoms once or twice a week. Even though Roe did not have an outbreak during the relationship, Doe contracted herpes and sued Roe for negligent transmittal of the disease. The trial court found Roe liable for $150,000 in damages. Roe appealed, arguing he had no duty to disclose his condition or take preventive measures because he believed he could not transmit herpes without an outbreak. Roe contended that little was known about asymptomatic transmission of herpes in 1985, so the risk of harm was unforeseeable, and no duty of care arose.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Smith, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 802,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
