HIV discrimination costly to employer; safety concern about circus performer doesn’t fly (nor does he)

“Cirque pays $600,000 settlement in discrimination complaint”

Cirque du Soleil, the Montreal-based new age circus that operates a facility at the Walt Disney World Resort, recently agreed to one of the largest public settlements for an HIV-discrimination complaint mediated by the Equal Opportunities Employment Commission.

The company agreed to pay $300,000 in compensation, $60,000 in back pay, $40,000 in legal fees and $200,000 in future wages to gymnast Matthew Cusick . . .

Cusick, 32, was hired to perform in one of the entertainment company’s shows in Las Vegas in 2002. He was fired abruptly after four months of training, three days before he was scheduled to begin work. Cusick had voluntarily disclosed his 11-year-old health condition during a company physical.

The company said, at the time, it decided to fire Cusick because he posed a safety threat to other performers and audience members. . .Read more

If you’re like me, your first reaction is that of course there’s an unacceptable safety risk in hiring someone HIV-positive to perform such hazardous duty. I picture a guy falling from a trapeze and his blood contaminating a first-responder.

But there’s always that risk; even if you don’t know it, there are likely to be employees, customers, patients, etc. with HIV. First responders, including ordinary employees giving first aid, can be adequately protected (so goes the government line, at least) by using proper blood-borne pathogen precautions (gloves and masks).