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Maid Sues Heiress Over HIV Test Requirement


Dana Hammond X390 (GETTY) | ADVOCATE.COM

A New York housekeeper is suing a prospective employer, claiming that she demanded the housekeeper take an HIV test—and produce her negative results—before she could start work.

Agnes Cybulska, who has been in the relatively unregulated housekeeping industry for 19 years, is suing Dana Hammond, the heiress to the Annenberg family, according to The New York Times. Cybulska answered an ad she found on Craigslist posted by an employment agency that called for an "experienced executive Polish housekeeper." Duties included supervising the domestic staff, cleaning, running errands, and caring for Hammond's daughter.

When Cybulska visited Hammond at one of her homes in January, she said Hammond told her the job would not pay the advertised $1,000 per week, but instead $150 daily, for nine hours, without benefits or overtime. In a second interview, according to Cybulska, Hammond demanded that she take and pass an HIV test, something Hammond has required of everyone on her domestic staff.

Hammond said she had recently been tested herself after using a toilet that seemed unsanitary; the statement struck Cybulska as odd. Cybulska then informed the employment agency that Hammond was demanding the test be administered, and soon after, agency executives informed her that she was not right for the position.

Cybulska's suit, filed Tuesday in a state court in Manhattan, says the testing requirement violates New York City's Human Rights Law. It names both Hammond and the employment agency, Domestic Job Picks, as defendants. Their representatives were not available for comment to the Times.

Discriminating against someone with HIV is also illegal under the federal Americans With Disabilities Act.

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Reader Comments
  • Name: Maureen
    Date posted: 6/17/2010 5:25:16 PM
    Hometown: Manhattan

    Comment:

    First of all, she's already had a nose job. Can't you see the symmetry around the nostrils? And secondly, it's ludicrous to criticize someone for their physical characteristics over which they have no control (ostencibly). Isn't the real harm here her ignorance - she thinks she can get HIV from sitting on a toilet seat? Was the seat covered with warm body fluids like blood or semen and she sat on it with open wounds on the back of her thighs? I mean, come on! She needs education, not surgery!

  • Name: Bryan
    Date posted: 6/17/2010 2:34:34 PM
    Hometown: SF

    Comment:

    Ryan: Don't forget that the employment agency is also a defendant, so while Ms. Hammond might not have more than 50 employees, it's conceivable that the agency does.

  • Name: Greg
    Date posted: 6/17/2010 8:55:00 AM
    Hometown: Providence RI

    Comment:

    Charles: "Polish housekeeper" was probably just a reference to polishing skills.

  • Name: Ryan
    Date posted: 6/17/2010 1:49:03 AM
    Hometown: Boston

    Comment:

    What a sloppy ending to this article. Discriminating against someone with HIV might violate the ADA, but the ADA doesn't apply unless an employer has more than 50 employees.

  • Name: Sebastian
    Date posted: 6/16/2010 11:29:06 PM
    Hometown: Darien, CT

    Comment:

    The housekeeper just wants to retire.

  • Name: Me
    Date posted: 6/16/2010 8:21:50 PM
    Hometown: USA

    Comment:

    This is a perfect example of when a person really needs a NOSE JOB!

  • Name: hep
    Date posted: 6/16/2010 7:55:31 PM
    Hometown: pa

    Comment:

    *shrug* Money talks. If someone wants something particular and has the bucks to pass it up they most likely can find it.

  • Name: Charles Spencer
    Date posted: 6/16/2010 7:17:14 PM
    Hometown: Yardley, PA

    Comment:

    Am I missing something or does "Polish Housekeeper" mean exactly what it sounds like. I think somene looking for an employee of a paricular national origin deserves as much coverage as a requirement to be tested and pass an HIV test.



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