Teresa Lockhart, Appellant v. Marette Loosen, Appellee

Summary

The Supreme Court of Oklahoma held that a third party may not predicate negligence per se on 63 O.S.1991 § 1-519, because the statute's duty runs only to the infected person's sexual partners and imposes no obligation to warn third persons. The court nonetheless held the dismissal of Lockhart's common-law negligence claim premature: on the sparse record, whether Loosen's silence about her herpes was the proximate cause of the wife's infection, or was cut off by the husband's conduct as a supervening cause, presents fact questions for the trier of fact. It also confirmed that negligent infliction of emotional distress is not an independent tort in Oklahoma but is in effect the tort of negligence. Justice Summers concurred, endorsing the knew-or-should-have-known standard as the weight of authority; Justice Simms dissented (joined by Justice Opala), contending no duty was owed to the wife, and Justice Opala filed a separate dissent arguing the claim is a statutorily abrogated criminal-conversation action.