1. Provide the title of your story or series and the names of the journalists involved.
"I Sued My Ex for Giving Me an STD — and I Won" by Marina Khidekel.
2. List date(s) this work was published or aired.
Sept. 10, 2010.
3. Provide a brief synopsis of the story or stories, including any significant findings.
"I Sued My Ex for Giving Me an STD — and I Won" tells the story of a young woman, Karly Rossiter, who filed a groundbreaking and highly controversial civil lawsuit against her ex-boyfriend for infecting her with human papillomavirus. HPV is the most common sexually transmitted infection — and, medical experts argue, the most wily when it comes to proving the source of infection. This piece raised important questions about trust, integrity, personal responsibility and how far women should go to protect their sexual health. Rossiter took her case all the way to the Iowa Supreme Court, which upheld that her ex Alan Evans, a dentist, had been negligent and acted in willful and wanton disregard for her health. Evans was ordered to pay Rossiter $1.5 million in damages — one of the largest known monetary awards in an STD case. Glamour presented the story in the dramatic fashion in which it unfolded, from the couple's year-long relationship to what happened when each took the courtroom stand. The reader reaction was just as passionate and heated, with women from around the country offering their opinions from all sides of the issue.
4. Explain types of documents, data or Internet resources used. Were FOI or public records act requests required? How did this affect the work?
Writer Marina Khidekel obtained full court records and transcripts and did extensive research into other STD lawsuits to determine that this one was indeed as groundbreaking as it seemed.
5. Explain types of human sources used.
Khidekel conducted extensive interviews with Karly Rossiter, corresponded with her attorney and Evans' attorney, and reached out to Evans himself (he gave a statement for the story but declined an in-depth interview). Other sources included medical experts Jill Grimes, M.D., an Austin, Texas — based family physician and author of Seductive Delusions: How Everyday People Catch STDs; Shobha S. Krishnan, M.D., a New York City gynecologist and the author of The HPV Vaccine Controversy; and legal experts Areva Martin, a Los Angeles — based attorney and author of The Everyday Advocate; and Joanne Belknap, Ph.D., a sociology professor at the University of Colorado at Boulder and an expert on gender and legal issues. Glamour also contacted women from around the country to get their take on the verdict; their comments — ranging from supportive to skeptical — were featured in a sidebar.
6. Results (if any).
The reader reaction was intense, varied and quite thoughtful. The letters we received proved that the story touched a major nerve and started many a heated debate. One Washington, D.C., reader wrote: "The Rossiter article resonated with me like no article ever has. Props to Karly. Cases like hers hopefully will make these [guys] think twice next time about hiding their STD status." Another reader, from St. Louis, weighed in: "I believe [this article] highlights American culture in a nutshell — something bad happens to you, find someone to sue! The bottom line is each one of us is accountable for our own actions and taking precautions before sleeping with anyone."
7. Follow-up (if any). Have you run a correction or clarification on the report or has anyone come forward to challenge its accuracy? If so, please explain.
After the story ran, Glamour was contacted by "The Talk," a talk show hosted by Sharon Osborne and others, which had Rossiter on as a guest. Rossiter, now an attorney in Arizona, has a blog on which she continues a dialogue with people from around the world. The story also generated worldwide attention after it was reprinted in Glamour's international editions in Russia, the UK and Poland. There were no corrections, clarifications or challenges to the story's accuracy.
8. Advice to other journalists planning a similar story or project.
In a nutshell: Don't wait for a case to be resolved to pursue a good story. Khidekel was in touch with Rossiter and her lawyers before the Iowa Supreme Court ruled on Evans' appeal of the district court's ruling. At the time, the suit had been covered only in local media, but Khidekel saw a bigger story no matter what the verdict was. After all, there have been lawsuits over HIV, herpes and other STDs, but people rarely successfully sue over HPV. Rossiter, in Khidekel's view, was doing something extraordinary (and "extraordinarily gutsy"), whether you agreed with her or not. The Supreme Court's final denial of Evans' appeal was just the cherry on top. As Khidekel says: "Even if a case isn't fully resolved, if you think that it's groundbreaking and opens up a new discussion for your audience, then go for it — that discussion in and of itself could be the crux of the story."