POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: wishihadacat on March 10, 2007, 06:34:15 am
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I am an attorney in NY who has been positive for 27 years. That we can sue for HIV/AIDS discrimination is not news for most of you, but if you believe that you have been the victim of discrimination after you disclosed your HIV status to your employer, I'd like to hear from you. I might be interested in taking on your cause.
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Wohoo! You go wishihadacat! ^^
I don't think it happens much in todays society but if it does we always have people like you!
:P
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I wish I had had you 6 years ago when someone took it upon themselves to tell my boss of my status. After which that led to harassment and being ostracized and eventually being fired. Unfortunately I was still young enough and naive enough to believe them when they said there was no way I had a case and I might as well drop it. I'm glad there are people like you that can be turned to and can help.
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Wohoo! You go wishihadacat! ^^
I don't think it happens much in todays society but if it does we always have people like you!
:P
I don't have an personal experience to tell. Just to let you know, Zanarkand, it happens in the most civil of societies. Listen Up: A small town in USA. A worker gets HIV and mistakenly tells one of his co-workers. News gets around. He doesn't get fired. What happens is he is shunned by everyone of his co-workers. It is impossible to tell if the company is instigating any of this--if they are, it's not apparent. He finally quits because no one will work alongside him. He just gives up and feels beat up. Poor sap. I feel bad for him but he made himself vulnerable and gave up without talking to a lawyer.
Just goes to show you, it happens quietly and people lose their jobs and means of a livelihood because of fear and misinformed public. I also want to say that some people just don't give a damn even though they are informed and aware. They don't want to be bothered with those infected. BTW, he wasn't gay. That factor didn't play into the scenario. In a very quiet manner some are being discriminated against. In ways that are not a direct violation of the law, but it's still happening. Today. Yesterday. Tomorrow.
spelling errors corrected........again.
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It does still happen, even though it shouldn't. Whether you are gay or straight, black or white, male or female, the law prohibits this kind of conduct, and we do not have to put up with it.
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Hi,
In the Netherlands employees are protected by law. But there are some circumstances where people do get fired. For example when employers find out when a worker is poz in his so called trial period when starting with the job.
One of the reasons why employers wants to get rid of hiv positives is that when an employee get's sick the employer still has to pay his salary. When an employee ends up disable the employer has to pay an extra penalty (even if this disability is caused by private circumstances like playing football or having unprotected sex).
What also often happens is that career chances suddenly are over, so hiv+ people will try to find another job.
The Netherlands may sound so liberal, the reality is that when you're health is fine and you really want to make a career it's better not to disclose.
Zeb
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Human nature is to avoid people who remind one of their own mortality. I have seen this happen to people with cancer and other terminal issues. It's not right nor fair but it's what people do. It's wrong and everyone needs to know what their rights are and to fight for what is theirs.
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This happened to me. I wasn't fired but pushed and pushed until my doctor just said I'm putting you on disability. The people i worked with were wonderful but my boss was a real bitch and kept threatening to fire me if i missed another day of work. I had a high stress job as it was and she made my life miserable after finding out about my status. Being in the medical field I would have thought I would have had a little more compassion. So, here I am now almost 8 years later on disability and bored out of my mind.
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It really is a shame that you were put through the grinder. It wouldn't be appropriate for me to post legal advice here, but eight years is a long time, and putting statute of limitations issues aside, it also becomes more difficult to prove that your former employer nudged you out the door because of your HIV.
As we all know, HIV/AIDS discrimination suits have been successful for many years; it's amazing that this kind of behavior still goes on though. Most of the time its because the victims are too afraid of being stigmatized in the community, and it truly sucks.
The same fear, and the practical difficulty of collecting a judgment from a defendant who has no assets, often prevents many women and men who were infected by bad guys who knew they were positive but had unsafe sex without disclosing from pursuing a case. In time, that stigma will (one hopes) diminish.
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Not overtly fired at my company, but they push and push, make things very difficult and FIND reasons to get rid of the poz boys and girls at my company. It sucks, we all know it happens, so we hide.
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I am bumping this because its such a wonderful gesture that someone has offered to help in the case of a person getting fired for being HIV positive. Its people like wishihadacat that makes life bearable.
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Thanks, Bear. If I wasn't such a prick, I'd be blushing.