Finally something good happens this week: Woman's victory over man who knowingly gave her herpes

A woman in Oregon met a man online and took him home on the fourth date. Instead of a relationship, which is what she was allegedly looking for, she ended up with genital herpes.

After enduring repeated and painful outbreaks of herpes and spiraling into a clinical depression, the woman filed a lawsuit against the man. The trial lasted four days, but a Multnomah County jury awarded her $900,000 for her suffering.

This was the first time a person suing another for knowingly transmitting herpes went to trial in Oregon. The jury deliberated for two hours before reaching their verdict: the man was 75% negligent and the women carried 25% of the blame. Two jurors believed the man was entirely at fault. The jury also found that the man committed battery by intentionally engaging in activity to harm the woman. The jury felt the man had the responsibility to disclose his disease.

Naturally, cases like this are difficult to prove, and there are rarely criminal charges. The classification of the spread of STIs differs depending on the state for example some states outlaw the intentional spreading of STIs and some limit it to only HIV. Oregon does neither, which allowed for this lawsuit and not criminal charges because the Washington County district attorney's office declined to prosecute because they felt they would be unable to meet the burden of proof.

The woman testified that she asked her date to wear a condom and he agreed, however, she knew he wasn't wearing a condom, but it was too late. Afterwards, they were laying in bed talking about their relationship, and he disclosed his herpes status. She then kicked him out.

Her outbreaks were awful, painful, and repeated. She took anti-viral medication, but it caused large amount of hair to fall out. She now suffers from anxiety and depression, and the drugs caused her to gain 30 pounds.

The defense took the classy, blame the woman approach. Defense attorney Shawn Lillegren pointed to the woman's credibility by arguing that she was lying about her sexual history. You know she's promiscuous and could have pick it up from one of the other men she had sex with. He went on to claim she should have demanded the man wear a condom...which is weird because I thought she asked him to. Lillegren cited that "everyone knows you're at risk for an STD."He went on to say, "Grow up. Come on. You're an adult. He's an adult. They had sex. The point is she is not some little innocent victim." He also accused the woman of looking for easy money.

The man took the stand and claimed he didn't know he could spread the disease when he wasn't suffering an outbreak. Additionally, he claims he told her he had herpes not out of guilt, but because he liked her and wanted to let her know sometimes he'd have to refrain from sex because of an outbreak.

After the verdict came back, the woman mouthed gratitude to the jury as they left.

My angry can barely be contained about this defense attorney. I guess women are supposed to be afraid of sex because there is a possibility of pregnancy and STIs, instead of just expecting partners to be open and honest about their medical conditions.