News
2007-08-28
Lawsuit: I was
fired for being straight
The former
director of California's AIDS/LifeCycle fund-raiser has sued
two HIV/AIDS nonprofits that put on the ride, claiming they
The former
director of California's AIDS/LifeCycle fund-raiser has sued
two HIV/AIDS nonprofits that put on the ride, claiming they
fired him because he is not gay.
Jeffrey Shapiro
filed suit Thursday in Los Angeles superior court,
alleging sexual orientation discrimination and intentional
infliction of emotional distress by his former
employers, the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center and
the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, City News
Service reported.
In his lawsuit,
Shapiro claims leaders of the two HIV/AIDS groups hired
him in March, then met with him in June and fired him,
telling him that "everybody liked him as a person, but
they needed somebody who better fit into the culture."
When he asked for
clarification, he said in court papers, a director of
the Los Angeles center told him that "things like this
happen and that they made a mistake to think this
could work."
AIDS/LifeCycle, a
545-mile cycling event down the California coast from
San Francisco to Los Angeles, benefits HIV/AIDS research.
The June 2007 ride drew 2,700 participants and
generated a record $11 million, according to the
event's Web site.
That ride had
been managed by longtime AIDS/LifeCycle director Chris
Cole, who left last month, according to Jim Key, public
affairs director for the Los Angeles center, to
Gay.com. Shapiro had been hired before Cole's
departure to provide a transition period, Key said.
"It's our policy
not to comment on personnel matters, but we can say
that the L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center and the San Francisco
AIDS Foundation never have and never would terminate
someone on the basis of their sexual orientation or
gender identity," Key told Gay.com.
"In fact, both
organizations pride themselves on a diverse work force
that includes many straight people, including in the highest
levels of management and on the AIDS/LifeCycle team,"
Key said. These include one of Shapiro's two direct
supervisors, the director of development at the San
Francisco AIDS Foundation, Key told Gay.com.
AIDS/LifeCycle's
director, who manages "a $11 million operating
budget (including revenues) and 20-person staff in San
Francisco and Los Angeles," reports to leaders of both
nonprofits, AIDS/LifeCycle says on its Web site.
Shapiro seeks
unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. (Barbara
Wilcox, The Advocate)
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