A sheriff's office in Louisiana has
agreed to pay a former police officer who was denied a job because of
his HIV status.
The Iberia Parish Sheriff's Office will
pay William “Liam” Pierce $90,000 and change their policies
related to HIV-positive employees, LGBT law group Lambda
Legal announced last week.
Under the terms of the agreement, the
sheriff's office will prohibit job discrimination based on HIV status
and employees will undergo two hours of training on HIV.
In 2005, Pierce moved from Ohio to
Louisiana, where he worked as a paramedic and police officer. Seven
years later, he applied to be a sheriff's deputy at the Iberia Parish
Sheriff's Office. He was tentatively hired pending the results of a
medical exam. But the offer was rescinded after Pierce was shown to
be HIV-positive. Pierce sued under the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA).
“I immediately knew that the
sheriff's decision not to hire me was based on my HIV status, and
though it was a long journey, it feels good to finally be
vindicated,” Pierce said in a statement. “I hope that my case
helps others avoid going through my experience and demonstrates to
other employers that living with HIV has nothing to do with our
ability to do any job.”
Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV
Project director at Lambda Legal, called the settlement “a lesson
to all employers across the country that HIV discrimination in the
workplace is completely unlawful and has no place anywhere.”
“This settlement should also serve as
a wakeup call to states and cities across the country to remove once
and for all outdated and stigmatizing HIV criminalization laws that
perpetuate discrimination and ignore current medical science,” he
added.