Lawyers for a man with HIV will ask a federal appeals court Wednesday to reinstate his lawsuit that contends the Atlanta Police Department illegally rejected his job application to be a police officer when it learned he had the disease.
The man, identified in court papers under the pseudonym Richard Roe, is a former investigator for the city of Los Angeles who sued the APD in 2008. Among his claims were that the city violated his rights under the Americans With Disabilities Act.
Roe was working another job at the APD when he applied to be an officer in 2006. He passed several phases of the hiring process, including a written test, a psychological exam, a lie-detector test and a background check.
Even though Roe became aware he was HIV-positive in 1997, he did not disclose to the APD that he had it, according to court records. During a pre-employment physical, he had his blood drawn and the tests showed he was HIV-positive.
Alton Greene, a doctor employed by Caduceus Occupational Medicine, which provided medical services for the APD, recommended that Roe should have "no physical contact with individuals; no physical involvement with individuals," court records show. The city subsequently declined to hire Roe as an officer.
In an order issued in November 2010, Senior U.S. District Judge Marvin Shoob dismissed Roe's claims against the city, Greene and Caduceus.
In that ruling, Shoob said he had not determined that city police officers with HIV posed a direct threat to others. But the judge said, in this case, Roe had failed to meet his burden of proving he would not be a significant risk of transferring the virus that causes AIDS.
On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider arguments raised by Roe's lawyers from Lambda Legal and city attorneys.
About the Author
