SAN FRANCISCO — Porn producer Kink.com has been told that it has to defend itself against lawsuits from actors who say they contracted HIV on set.
Courthouse News reported that Atain Specialty Insurance Company sued Peter Acworth, CEO Kink.com, and his companies in November 2015. Atain claimed has no duty to cover litigation costs related to a rash of lawsuits brought by former actors.
From Courthouse News:
In a ruling issued Friday, U.S. District Judge James Donato granted Atain’s motion for summary judgment, finding a “physical-sexual abuse exclusion” exempts the insurer from covering claims arising from sexual activity.
“The language of this exclusion is not ambiguous in the context of this policy and the circumstances of this case,” Donato wrote in his 6-page ruling. “Because the contractual language is clear and explicit, it governs.”
Donato’s ruling comes less than three weeks after Acworth’s porn empire suffered another setback in federal court.
On Nov. 27, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers found State Compensation Insurance Fund also has no duty to defend Kink.com in HIV-related lawsuits because the claims are either governed exclusively by workers’ compensation or barred by an intentional harm exclusion in the policy.
Acworth, a British citizen, purchased the Armory, a 200,000-square foot Moorish castle and former National Guard training facility in San Francisco’s Mission District, in 2007 for $14.5 million.
