News
2006-02-07
Settlement
reached in the firing of HIV-positive man
Aron Pelela, who
was fired from a North Carolina restaurant after
revealing his HIV status, will get an undisclosed sum.
A man fired from
his job as a cook because he is HIV-positive has reached
a financial agreement with his former employers, Lambda
Legal announced Monday. Mike and Katy’s
Causeway Cafe of Wrightsville Beach, N.C., terminated
Aron Pelela in October after learning of his HIV status. The
settlement, brokered in part by Lambda, argued that the
restaurant violated the Americans With Disabilities
Act as well as North Carolina law.
As part of the
agreement, the restaurant will institute a policy ensuring
that it will no longer discriminate against HIV-positive
employees, conduct training to educate staff about the
transmission of HIV, and award Pelela an undisclosed
amount of money. “There is no risk of
transmission of HIV through the preparation of food, yet
myths about transmission are clearly still running
rampant,” said Greg Nevins, senior staff
attorney in Lambda’s southern regional office in
Atlanta. “We are happy to see the owner of this
restaurant instituting a policy based on the facts and
training their employees on the truth about HIV
transmission.”
Lambda is
currently working on a similar case involving a man being
fired from his job as manager of a successful Subway
restaurant after a superior learned he is
HIV-positive. (Advocate.com)
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