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HIV-AIDS : Discrimination : Press Releases

ACLU Tells Peace Corps To Stop Barring People With HIV From Serving As Volunteers (04/21/2008)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Peace Corps today demanding that it change its policy of barring people with HIV from serving as volunteers. The ACLU sent the letter on behalf of a Denver volunteer who was sent home from his post in the Ukraine and terminated after he tested positive for HIV.

ACLU Tells Alabama RV Park to Stop Discriminating Against People with HIV (07/16/2007)
MONTGOMERY, AL – The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the owner of the Wales West RV park in Silverhill, Alabama today demanding that it stop discriminating against people with HIV by barring people with the disease from using the swimming pool, showers and other common areas of the park without a letter from a doctor. 

ACLU Sues West Virginia Police Chief Who Blocked Life-Saving Measures for Gay Heart Attack Victim Assumed to Be HIV Positive (03/02/2006)
CHARLESTON, WV – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a federal discrimination lawsuit on behalf of the surviving family members of a Welch man who died of a heart attack after the police chief physically prevented his friend from performing CPR. The police chief blocked the CPR because he falsely assumed that the man, who was gay, was HIV positive and therefore a health risk.

Global AIDS Gag Holds Critical Funding Captive to Politics (11/09/2005)
NEW YORK – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed deep concern about a U.S. government policy that ties the hands of public health service providers and those who work with them in the global fight against AIDS.

ACLU Praises Arkansas Board of Cosmetology for Quickly Confirming that People With HIV Are Not Barred From Practicing Cosmetology (06/02/2005)
LITTLE ROCK -- In response to a letter sent today by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Arkansas Board of Cosmetology quickly confirmed that people with HIV are not barred from practicing cosmetology in the state. The ACLU sent the letter after the Paragould-based cosmetology school, Hair Tech Beauty College, expelled an HIV-positive student, claiming it was illegal for people with HIV to practice cosmetology.

ACLU Urges State to Clarify Regulation Used by Cosmetology School to Justify Kicking Out HIV Positive Student (06/02/2005)
LITTLE ROCK -- The American Civil Liberties Union sent a letter to the Arkansas Board of Cosmetology today asking it to clarify a state regulation that has been used as the justification by a Paragould-based cosmetology school to expel an HIV-positive student.

ACLU Tells Federal Appeals Court that HIV Positive Health Care Workers Pose No Threat to Others (01/06/2005)
DENVER - The American Civil Liberties Union filed a friend-of-the-court brief before the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit today urging the court to allow a discrimination suit to go forward that was brought by a phlebotomist who was fired after notifying his employer that he was HIV positive.

ACLU Survey Reveals Massive Civil Rights Violations Against People With HIV/AIDS (11/13/2003)
NEW YORK - The American Civil Liberties Union today released a survey, HIV & Civil Rights: A Report from the Frontlines of the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, which details widespread civil rights violations throughout the U.S. against people with HIV/AIDS. The survey was compiled from interviews over the past two years with community-based AIDS service providers from across the country.

ACLU Says Changes to Bush Faith-Based Bill Make Government-Funded Discrimination More Likely (06/28/2001)
"It may be hard to believe, but the Administration has actually made this bill even worse," said Terri Schroeder, an ACLU Legislative Counsel. "If this new version were to become law, faith-based discrimination against people in need would become the norm. The changes can in no way be called a compromise." 

As Senate Convenes Hearings, ACLU Says Bush Initiative Represent Faith-Based Prescription for Discrimination (06/06/2001)
WASHINGTON - As a Senate panel convened its first hearings on President Bush's faith-based initiative, the American Civil Liberties Union today said that the Administration's proposal would give federally funded religious organizations carte blanche to discriminate based on religion. 

Federal Court Victory Sets New Precedent on HIV Discrimination Against Health Care Workers (05/14/2001)
NEW YORK -- A federal court decision reinstating an Oregon ski patroller who was fired for refusing an HIV test will strengthen legal protections for health care workers and others whose employers overreact to remote risks of HIV infection, the American Civil Liberties Union said today. 

ACLU Says Watts Charitable Choice Bill Would Give Government-Funded Religious Organizations Carte Blanche to Discriminate (04/26/2001)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today told a House subcommittee that a bill designed to implement President Bush's faith-based initiative would give federally funded religious organizations carte blanche to discriminate based on religion. 

ACLU Urges House to Reject Watts Faith-Based Bill; Says It Represents Broad Assault on Civil Rights Protections (03/20/2001)
WASHINGTON - Calling it a broad assault on core civil rights protections, the American Civil Liberties Union today urged the House of Representatives to reject the faith-based initiative to be introduced tomorrow morning by Rep. J.C. Watts, a Republican from Oklahoma. 

Federal Appeals Court Rejects Foster Care Policy That Discriminates Based on HIV/AIDS Status (03/06/2001)
PHILADELPHIA -- A Pennsylvania county children's agency cannot disqualify prospective foster parents because one of their children has AIDS -- and cannot force them to disclose their children's health status -- the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled, in a decision hailed today by the American Civil Liberties Union, which represents the parents. 

In Disappointing Decision, Justices Limit Disability Law (02/21/2001)
WASHINGTON--The Supreme Court today ruled that state employees who have suffered job discrimination because of their disabilities may not sue for money damages under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The decision, the American Civil Liberties Union said, once again elevated states rights over individual rights.

ACLU Says Bush Initiative Represents Faith-Based Prescription for Discrimination (01/29/2001)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today said that President George Bush's new initiative to give tax dollars to religious organizations would lead to government-funded discrimination in employment and services and a dangerous loosening of licensing and standards for providers of social services. 

Federal Court Rejects HIV-Based Job Discrimination, Ties Employment to Individual Capabilities, Not Bias (03/10/2000)
CHATTANOOGA, TN--Striking a blow against job discrimination based on HIV status, a federal court today reversed a lower court decision that allowed the city of Chattanooga to refuse to hire a man as a police officer just because he has HIV.

ACLU of New Jersey Challenges HIV Discrimination (05/17/1999)
In September 1998, the woman, identified only as C.C. in the federal court complaint, went to Shelton Dental Services for a routine check-up. After her x-rays were completed by a dental assistant, Dr. McDaniels entered the examining room and asked C.C. questions about her medical history. Once Dr. McDaniels learned that C.C. was HIV positive, he refused to treat her and instead referred her to the Special Services Dental Clinic at the New Jersey Dental School. 

Settlement Ends Discrimination Case of Nine-Year-Old Forced to Take HIV Test (04/22/1999)
CAROL STREAM, IL -- A nine-year-old black child who was allegedly coerced into taking an HIV test after sharing a snorkel in a public pool with a white youth settled a discrimination case against a suburban day care center, the Chicago Sun-Times reported today.

ACLU Settles AIDS Discrimination Case for Homeless Man, Creating Model Education Program for Shelters Nationwide (01/15/1999)
NEW YORK, NY -- The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the settlement of an AIDS discrimination case in which Patrick Keegan Biggers, a homeless man, was evicted from a shelter in Maine because he was HIV positive.

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