Highland Park Man Lied About Genetic Disease to Convince Girlfriend to Have Abortion, Lawsuit Claims

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David Kiger

Original post: David Kiger founded a shipping company and, according to DCAD, owns a home in Highland Park, the type of guy who winds up in the party pics section of D Magazine. Like here. And here. And here with Abbey Gregory, the woman who, according to his old flame, he's looking to settle down with, maybe have a couple kids.

That old flame is Brenda Jarvis, and she's not happy with Kiger's plans for a nuclear family. She's so not happy that she filed a lawsuit against Kiger in Dallas County District Court. It's not that she resents Kiger's domestic bliss. She's just pissed about the time he told her he was a carrier of a horrible genetic disease to convince her to get an abortion.

According to the lawsuit, first reported by Courthouse News, Jarvis and Kiger were lifelong friends -- and only friends -- when their relationship took a more intimate turn in 2009. The suit doesn't specifically define "intimate," but, given that Jarvis soon became pregnant, it's clear that they loved each other very much, so much that they hugged really hard until her uterus burst with life. Or something.

Anyway, Jarvis says she was excited at the prospect of becoming a mother. She told Kiger that she was having the child and that he should decide what role, if any, he wanted to play in its life. Kiger, the suit says, told her that he didn't want to be a father and advised her to get an abortion. He then told her something he had never revealed to anyone: he had a rare genetic disorder called Von Hippel-Lindau disease. The affliction, in which benign but fast-growing tumors take root in the brain, retinas, and other parts of the nervous system, was a terrible one, Kiger explained. His family had a lengthy history with the disease, including one traumatic still birth.

Reluctantly, Jarvis agreed to an abortion. In the days that followed, Kiger lavished attention upon her and repeatedly assured her she had done the right thing. Then, he dumped her.

The former couple moved on with their lives and, not long after, Kiger became involved with Gregory. Jarvis learned of the relationship and, furthermore, that they planned to have kids together. After Jarvis confronted him about his sudden unconcern with his supposed genetic disease, Kiger agreed to a compromise: He would give her $744,000 and pay off her 2008 Range Rover if Jarvis agreed to remain quiet about the abortion. He, too, had to keep the abortion and their deal on the down-low.

Jarvis, however, began to see evidence that Kiger wasn't keeping his mouth shut. Word of the settlement seemed to have leaked out to some of his friends. One person accused Jarvis of extortion. So, she sued.

Her claim isn't so much about the abortion as it is about Kiger's alleged inability to keep quiet about the mutual agreement to keep quiet about the abortion, which is appended to the lawsuit. The suit charges that Kiger is guilty of defamation, breach of contract and fraud in convincing her to enter into the agreement.