Justice Dept. Scores Another Win Against HIV Discrimination

This is the Justice Department's fourth settlement in six weeks.

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

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Neal Broverman

March 14 2013 2:38 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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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.