California Expands HIV Infection Liability

The California Supreme Court ruled yesterday that someone with HIV can sue the sexual partner who infected them based on constructive knowledge.  My sense (without doing a fifty-state survey) is that this is a fairly mainstream position.

“The burden of a duty of care on defendants who know or have reason to know of their H.I.V. infection is minimal, and the consequences for the community would be salutary,” Justice Marvin R. Baxter wrote for the four-justice majority.

The opinion is here [PDF].