{"id":2734,"date":"2019-11-12T07:10:26","date_gmt":"2019-11-12T07:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/news\/?p=2734"},"modified":"2019-11-12T07:10:26","modified_gmt":"2019-11-12T07:10:26","slug":"he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/","title":{"rendered":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Source: washingtonpost.com<\/p>\n<div class=\"teaser-content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">When Armando Gutierrez learned he was HIV-positive last December, he struggled to share the information with his employer.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">The 31-year-old believed he was well-liked at the Kansas chain restaurant where he had worked as a server for a year, but he still worried his co-workers would stigmatize him if they learned of his condition. In a lawsuit filed last week in U.S. District Court in Kansas, Gutierrez claims his fears were well founded, because shortly after sharing his status with a manager, he says he was fired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"remainder-content\">\n<section>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">Gutierrez first told his manager at the Big Biscuit in Overland Park, Kan., that he had cancer rather than HIV, the lawsuit says. But to qualify for a state program to get medications for HIV, he needed his manager to verify he didn\u2019t receive health insurance through his work. Forced to come forward about his status, he brought his manager forms to sign.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">Gutierrez then learned he had suddenly been transferred to another location and would be forced to work on Sundays \u2014 a day that he had said he could not work because of family obligations. When he appeared for work at the new location, he protested the schedule change and said he couldn\u2019t make an accommodation, according to his lawyer, Mark Dugan.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">As a result, Gutierrez claims, he was fired.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">The Big Biscuit did not immediately respond to The Washington Post\u2019s requests for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">Gutierrez\u2019s lawsuit alleges that the Big Biscuit violated the Americans With Disabilities Act by firing him over his HIV status. He seeks financial compensation, which he argues he\u2019s entitled to through the ADA, including back pay, front pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorneys\u2019 fees.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">\u201cIt had a pretty huge emotional impact,\u201d Dugan said, of his client\u2019s firing. \u201cFirst, he was upset by the diagnosis; he was upset at work. The fact that he was unable to continue in his job just further undermined his stability.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">Individuals with HIV or AIDS are protected by federal anti-discrimination laws, thanks to a\u00a01998 Supreme Court ruling.\u00a0ADA.gov states\u00a0that \u201cpersons with HIV disease, either symptomatic or asymptomatic, have physical impairments that substantially limit one or more major life activities and thus are protected by the ADA.&#8221;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">There is no cure for HIV<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hiv\/basics\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">,<\/a>\u00a0but medical treatment is available to control it, and the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has outlined several methods\u00a0to help prevent its transmission. According to\u00a0CDC data from 2016, about 1.1 million Americans had HIV infections, and an estimated 162,500 additional people had been diagnosed<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/hiv\/statistics\/overview\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">.<\/a>\u00a0The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission\u00a0received 195\u00a0complaints of workplace discrimination because of their HIV status in fiscal year 2018.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\u00a0<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">In 2015, a man in Georgia won a $125,000 settlement against his employer after he said he was fired over his HIV status, the\u00a0BBC reported.\u00a0Chanse Cox decided to come forward to his managers after his co-workers at the juice production plant Gregory Packaging began gossiping about his condition. Management fired him on the basis that his condition caused a food safety issue. Cox took his case to the EEOC, which sued the company with allegations that it violated the ADA.<\/p>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">Although Gutierrez\u2019s manager at the Big Biscuit did sign the necessary form for him to receive state aid, and Gutierrez has since found other employment, the pain inflicted by his dismissal remained nearly a year later, his attorney said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"font--body font-copy color-gray-darkest ma-0 pad-bottom-md undefined\">\u201cHe\u2019s done a very good job of trying to move on, but it was pretty upsetting for him,\u201d Dugan said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[619,2247,957,519,55,340],"class_list":["post-2734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-control","tag-hiv-aids-2","tag-hiv-positive","tag-medicine","tag-patients","tag-surgeon"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MyMedicPlus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"276\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"182\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mymedicplus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mymedicplus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"mymedicplus\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\"},\"headline\":\"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\"},\"wordCount\":600,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"control\",\"HIV &amp; Aids\",\"HIV positive\",\"medicine\",\"patients\",\"Surgeon\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\",\"name\":\"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg\",\"width\":276,\"height\":182},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"MyMedicPlus\",\"description\":\"One Blog Daily For Health And Fitness\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f\",\"name\":\"mymedicplus\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"mymedicplus\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/author\/mymedicplus\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/","og_site_name":"MyMedicPlus","article_published_time":"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00","og_image":[{"width":276,"height":182,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"mymedicplus","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"mymedicplus","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/"},"author":{"name":"mymedicplus","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f"},"headline":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges","datePublished":"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/"},"wordCount":600,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg","keywords":["control","HIV &amp; Aids","HIV positive","medicine","patients","Surgeon"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/","name":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges - MyMedicPlus","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg","datePublished":"2019-11-12T07:10:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/hiv-status-to-his-employer.jpg","width":276,"height":182},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/he-revealed-his-hiv-status-to-his-employer-then-he-was-fired-a-lawsuit-alleges\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"He revealed his HIV status to his employer. Then he was fired, a lawsuit alleges"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/","name":"MyMedicPlus","description":"One Blog Daily For Health And Fitness","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/064cee11e5bd38b19d197d3f9491488f","name":"mymedicplus","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/47c4b479693017661bd50b83eee2fef50fdbfdcf398ed4b8f69e9f841bd98fc2?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"mymedicplus"},"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/author\/mymedicplus\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2736,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2734\/revisions\/2736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mymedicplus.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}