HIV Positive Man Banned From Touching Doorknobs At Work

While discrimination against people with HIV is certainly nothing new, the level of harassment suffered by James White of Detroit, Michigan brings back memories of the darkest days of the initial outbreak. Abetted by President Reagan’s now infamous silence and complete inaction, ill-informed rumors about HIV spread as quickly as the disease itself. Millions of lost lives and decades later, we’re still dealing with the fallout from that total failure in leadership.

James White was diagnosed with HIV, which is hard enough to deal with but the response of his co-workers must have been devastating. Upon learning of his condition, White was banned from touching doorknobs at his workplace, Great Expressions Dental Centers. Yes, you read that correctly and the title of the article was not an exaggeration. In addition, his co-workers followed him around with a bottle of Lysol as if he were oozing germs. Finally, his schedule was constantly rearranged, sometimes without his knowledge, and White was repeatedly disciplined for his “unexcused abscences.” I’ve seen that particular tactic used before to get rid of “problem” employees and it is both cowardly and extremely risky. The gamble is that the employee won’t realize that it is illegal to be fired in this fashion, which White was after been hospitalized for a week due to illness. This time, the gamble did not pay off as White is suing his former employer. One of the more shocking aspects of this is that he worked with actual doctors and was still treated like a pariah by people whose very job it is to know better.

To make matters worse, if that’s even possible, White did not even work with patients or equipment. He was a billing clerk. There wasn’t even the specter of him being a danger to the public which might have mitigated the disgusting manner in which White was treated. No, it was simply fear and ignorance on the part of his co-workers. Again, some of whom were medical professionals.

A petition has been started on Change.org:

We demand the immediate resignation of the regional director of Great Expressions Dental in Detroit for discriminatory tactics and hindrance of employment equal opportunity. Furthermore, we demand that reparations be paid in full to Mr. White for the entirety of what is being asked.

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Link: http://www.addictinginfo.org/2011/12/21/hiv-positive-man-banned-from-touching-doorknobs-at-work/

Originally posted in General Discussion here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/100254846