Justice Dept. Scores Another Win Against HIV Discrimination

The Gleinbeigh Hospital of Rock Creek, Ohio, has settled a lawsuit with the Justice Department after a patient was denied services because of their HIV status, which is illegal under the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The hospital refused to admit someone into their alcohol treatment program because the patient was HIV-positive. Gleinbeigh officials claimed that side effects from the patient's HIV medications would put other people in the treatment program at risk. The Justice Department determined the hospital could not prove the complainant would have posed a threat to the health or safety of others. The hospital will pay the complainant $32,500 and fork over $5,000 in civil penalties. This is the fourth settlement the Justice Department reached in four weeks pertaining to HIV discrimination.

"The ADA does not tolerate HIV discrimination and neither will the Justice Department," Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, said in a statement.