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Police Candidate
Sues for HIV Discrimination

Police Candidate
Sues for HIV Discrimination

A man who applied to be police officer in Atlanta is suing the department after higher-ups claimed he could not be admitted because he is HIV positive.

A man who applied to be police officer in Atlanta is suing the department after higher-ups claimed he could not be admitted because he is HIV-positive. Suing under the pseudonym Richard Roe, the applicant said the department violated his privacy and that it has a history of not accepting officers who have HIV, TheAtlanta Journal-Constitution reported Monday.

City officials say the department did not turn Roe away because of his HIV status, but city documents sent to the the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission show that Atlanta disqualifies potential officers with blood-borne diseases, such as HIV. "Diseases passed through the blood present a hazardous condition and as such are disqualifying conditions," the city wrote to the EEOC about Roe's case.

Atlanta Human Resource Department director Alfred Elder said that Roe disqualified himself because he did not return phone calls from a police recruiter.

The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits employers from firing or denying employment to those with HIV.

Roe was working another job within the department when he applied to become an officer in 2006, according to court documents. He claims he was told that the routine blood test was strictly for drug use. The department says Roe was notified that he was also being tested for HIV. The doctor administering the test told Roe he was HIV-positive and that the police department does not hire people with the virus. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)

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