Rock Hudson’s Insurer Absolved of Liability

A federal judge in Los Angeles has absolved Rock Hudson’s insurance company--Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.--of liability in a $14.5-million judgment awarded by a jury last year to the late actor’s lover.

U.S. District Judge A. Wallace Tashima, who made the ruling on Monday, found that Aetna does not have to pay any part of the award because Hudson never told Marc Christian that he had AIDS.

“Hudson was aware that he had AIDS and intentionally misrepresented his condition to Christian,” Tashima said in his ruling.

Aetna also will not be responsible for the legal costs of the ongoing appeal of the February, 1989, verdict against Hudson’s estate, Aetna attorney Michael Leahy said.