The Fourth District Court of Appeal in San Bernardino has reinstated boxing referee Ray Corona Sr's negligence lawsuit against the California State Athletic Commission. Corona had filed a San Bernardino County injury lawsuit against the commission for allowing a boxer with HIV to fight in the ring.
The California appeals court said that it is the commission's legal responsibility to ensure that all licensed professional boxers test negative for HIV, hepatitis-C, and hepatitis-B before letting them compete. According to Corona, one week after he officiated a June 2005 fight in San Bernardino County, the commission sent him a letter informing him that he may have been exposed to AIDS.
Apparently, one boxer's test results didn't come in until after the bout. The letter suggested that Corona get tested and exercise caution about engaging in activities that could spread the disease until he got his results back.
Corona and his wife sued for California personal injury because of the emotional distress they suffered. The two of them had not been aware until they received the notice that they needed to do anything to prevent spreading the disease. Since then, both of them have tested negative.
A California Superior Court threw out the California injury complaint in 2007. The court had stated that the state is immune from liability for any decision involving the denial or approval of a professional license. The appeals court, however, said that testing boxers for AIDS before they get in a ring is not a decision to be made at one's discretion but a mandate.
HIV
Although an HIV diagnosis doesn't have to be a death sentence, it is still not a virus that anyone wants to get. Not only can the disease be spread sexually, intravenously, via blood transfusion, from mother to fetus, and through other means, but living with HIV requires major lifestyle changes and treatments that can lead to serious health complications.
If you believe that your illness or injury was caused by another party's negligence, you may have grounds for filing a San Bernardino County, California injury lawsuit.
Referee can sue commission over boxer's HIV, SF Gate, October 26, 2009
Living with HIV/AIDS, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
