Employees are being discriminated against
for theirinfectious illness known as A.I.D.S.
They are labeledincapable of performing the tasks they pursued before
theywere recognized as being infected.
The confidentiality of anemployee is a private matter and very
personal. There aremany different kinds
of prejudice but not one as deadly asA.I.D.S Discrimination. The emotional trauma and future ofemployment
play a giant role in the inflicted.
HealthPolicies through job-related fields must learn to recognizethat
like other illnesses, A.I.D.S does not
forbid anemployee of performing his or her duties. It is the mostaltering form of discrimination
because of the fact thatevery time a person finds out they are positive, theopinions of those who surround them are
likely to change. The working class is the most
susceptible to this form ofdiscrimination. The every day environment of an employeewith
A.I.D.S is also the work grounds for someone who isn'tinfected with A.I.D.S.
A.I.D.S Discrimination in ajob-related atmosphere is due to lack of education
andsensitivity.
The
infection of HIV does not reduce an employee'sefficiency from satisfactory to
intolerable. An employeeshould not be
denied employment or promotion if they are not
flawed by
HIV. Some employees are not stripped of
theircapacities to perform even though they are infected with HIV(Lewy 2). Why should the employee health benefits be
alteredbecause of the nature of the disease.
The majority ofemployee policies offered cover catastrophic illness withonly
ten percent covering A.I.D.S. One
particular policystates that people do not become infected through usualbehavior
in a working environment. This
illustrates thatA.I.D.S patients are protected under disability law and areentitled
to the same medical benefits (Karr A1).
Policiesmust be issued to protect the inflicted. A Department ofHealth and Human Services
review board has ruled"discrimination against someone who's HIV-positive
isillegal" (Kolasa 63). Where does
it say that unless theinfected is under employment? The main thing to understandis that it
doesn't. Eileen Kolasa reminds us of a
law ofdirect meaning "HIV is a handicap protected under federallaw"
(66). The American justice system is
what decides thefate of the infected.
The challenge of bringing an A.I.D.Sdiscrimination case in court has
become very common in theUnited States.
Such actions have been victorious and havehelped pass revised Disability
Acts which applies to alldiseases (Annas 592).
Even though the infected are defended
under law, itstill violates a person's
human rights of personal healthsecrecy.
This discrimination has not received attention as aform of human-rights
violation. The government and courtsystems
have helped essentially, but
discrimination alsoaffects medical care.
Physicians and lawyers should promote
the interests of
the sick as well (Annas 592). Revealingthis
condition is a serious decision to make.
Thepossibilities of acceptance will differ in the lives of manyHIV-positive
employees. Helen Lippman, senior editor of RNmagazine replies:
If legislation were passed requiring
health-care
providers to report their HIV
status, nearly
four in ten respondents say that they
would report
a suspected violation. (32)
The tutelage of A.I.D.S at a job can
considerably changeattitudes of credibility.
The Americans With Disability Actgoverns to any company with twenty-five
or more employees. This legislation forbids discrimination against anydisability
or chronic disease. The interesting fine
print isthat it specifically mentions A.I.D.S. within its text(Pogash 77). The policies do mot automatically make theroutines
of companies more likely to accept them.
Wyatt JohnBunker explains from Karrs article "the gold standard
isn'twhether companies have a policy, but how they handle A.I.D.S.on a day to
day basis" (A1). One of the
first A.I.D.S. discrimination cases that wasfiled was against United
Airlines. Two pilots wereprohibited from
flying due to the fact that they wereHIV-positive. James F. Peltz and Stuart Silverstein, LosAngeles
Times writers, explain that "the case extends thealready-sensitive subject
of A.I.D.S. in the workplace toanother group of professionals whose jobs
include protectingthe safety of others" (D1). Bunker's theory does make sensein the
employee situations where the general public becomes a
dynamic
participant in the matter. Robert Lewy
shares hisview of determining if an employee is able to perform his orher
obligation of employment by a series of guidelines:
HIV-infected workers should be treated the
same
as persons with any other non-work-related
injuries or illnesses, such as
diabetes or
epilepsy. They are entited to equal rights
and benefits of employment,
including
available medical services. (9)
-----One possible
solution is to educate the businesses to besympathetic. The Centers for Disease Control &
Preventionhave coordinated a program called "Business Responds toA.I.D.S." Its main initiative is to involve better
educationby sensitizing executives, managers, and labor leaders. Ifthey draft new policies for their
businesses, they will bestepping in the right direction (Collingwood 46). Smallindependent businesses can set their own
policies but whatabout the large chain businesses?
The
commonly known department store "Macy's" came acrossan A.I.D.S.
discrimination dispute. When Macy's haddiscovered
that Mark Woodley, the usual Santa Claus, wasHIV-positive he was denied
employment. They did however offerhim a job supervising the Santa Claus's, but
he refused(Santa 22). Macy's tried to
cover up by offering Mr. Woodleya job that did not involve the interaction of
people. Thesituation was backed up by a
protest march which resulted inchaos.
One protestor John Winkleman states "A.I.D.S.discrimination
violates the spirit of Christmas and we willnot tolerate it at all" (Santa
22).
Some businesses do not want to deal with
beingresponsible for someone who somewhere down the line mightbecome fatally
ill. Insurance coverage is a main
concern foremployees. The cost of
treatment for A.I.D.S from the firstdiagnosis to death is an amount of $85,000
(Pogash 77). TheMedical staff of
hospitals deal with HIV-positive patients ona daily basis. Nurses, unlike office employees orconstruction
workers, perform invasive procedures on patientsproviding them with immediate
care. This line of duty mayenforce
stronger policies for their own legal protection(Kolasa 64). A survey was taken from Helen Lippman for RNmagazine. She reports "a caregiver's risk of
infection aftera needlestick with contaminated blood, the CDC estimates isabout
one in 200, and about one in 300 from percutaneousexposure" (30). Medical officials should be offered theseprotection
plans, but should also become more sensitive tothe subject of
discrimination. The City of Philadelphiafired
emergency health physicians for refusing to give propertreatment to patients
with A.I.D.S (Philadelphia 17). If youare
put in a situation where you are working with someone whois infected or
worrying of becoming infected yourself, youwould want to know what protection
is offered after knowingthe rights of the caregiver (Kolasa 63).
A.I.D.S discrimination is no different than any otherform of prejudice. The only way it trails off the basic pathis
that it can go either way. Whether you
are a patient whois infected or a nurse who is infected. Whether you are anoffice employee or a client
of an office employee. A.I.D.Sdoes not
chose skin color, religion, or ethnic background.
It will get to
anyone puts themselves at risk. If you
add upall the hate and discomfort between people or groups ofpeople in our
society who are prejudiced as it is, and addanother reason to take the hate to
a higher level, theproblem will never be solved. Everyone must work togetherand become more
educated about the way victims of thishourglass disease are treated. Black, White, Jewish, Asian,etc. Everyone has their opposing differences about
oneanother, or how one race or belief is dominant over another.
A.I.D.S is not prejudice. It has
a hold on many groupsof these people.
Health policies are offered for theprotection of the sick, but no policy
will protect them fromthe emotional abuse.
This is why we shouldn't turn our backson these people who are less
fortunate. It's not going toget
better. We must educate ourselves to not
be soclose-minded, and start to get ahead of the game. Despiteall the irreconcilable differences
between different types ofpeople who are infected ,they have one threatening
thing incommon.....they are all dying.
Educate not to discriminate. Are you so certain you will never be
infected?
---------------------
----[1]
W[1]O[1]R[1]K[1]S[1]C[1]I[1]T[1]E[1]D
"
A.I.D.S Protesters-as-Santa's at Macy's." [1]N[1]e[1]w[1] [1]Y[1]o[1]r[1]k[1] [1]T[1]i[1]m[1]e[1]s
-----30 Nov. 1991, sec.
1: 22.
Annas,
George. "Detention of HIV Positive
Haitians at
-----Guantanamo." [1]T[1]h[1]e[1] [1]N[1]e[1]w[1] [1]E[1]n[1]g[1]l[1]a[1]n[1]d[1] [1]J[1]o[1]u[1]r[1]n[1]a[1]l[1] [1]o[1]f[1] [1]M[1]e[1]d[1]i[1]c[1]i[1]n[1]e 329
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Karr, Albert.
"
E
m
p
l
oyer A.I.D.S Policies begin to Proliferate [1]T[1]h[1]e[1] [1]W[1]a[1]l[1]l[1] [1]S[1]t[1]r[1]e[1]e[1]t[1] [1]J[1]o[1]u[1]r[1]n[1]a[1]l
15 Dec. 1992: A1.
Kolasa, Eileen
Urban. "HIV vs. a nurses right to
work." [1]R[1]N
January 1993: 63-68.
Lewy,
Robert. "HIV Infection and Job
Performance." [1]U[1].[1]S[1].[1]A[1] [1]T[1]o[1]d[1]a[1]y
August 1992: 28-29.
Lippman,
Helen. "HIV and Professional
Ethics: Nurses Speak Out." [1]R[1]N June
1992: 28-32.
Peltz,
James. "2 United Pilots File 1st A.I.D.S-Related
Suit Against an Airline." [1]L[1]o[1]s[1] [1]A[1]n[1]g[1]e[1]l[1]e[1]s[1] [1]T[1]i[1]m[1]e[1]s 12 April.
1995:
-----D1.
"Philadelphia
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[1]T[1]i[1]m[1]e[1]s 22 Mar. 1994, sec. A: 17
Pogash,
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-----workplace.)"
[1]W[1]o[1]r[1]k[1]i[1]n[1]g[1] [1]W[1]o[1]m[1]a[1]n October 1992: 74-79.
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