ACLU Appeals TSA Denial Of Job To Air Force Veteran With HIV
TSA Claims Applicant Unfit To Screen Baggage
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: (212) 549-2666; media@aclu.org
FORT LAUDERDALE – The American Civil Liberties Union today appealed a decision by the Transportation Security Administration to refuse a job to an Air Force Veteran because he has HIV. In a fax to the ACLU, TSA claims it denied Michael Lamarre a job as a baggage handler in order to protect his health because his lowered immune system made him vulnerable to infectious diseases at the airport. TSA claimed among other reasons that the fact that Lamarre is taking three antiviral medications is evidence that he has a suppressed immune system.
“Having lived with HIV for nearly two decades, I’ve had to deal with my share of ignorance about HIV,” said Lamarre. “But it’s especially hurtful when it is the government that I have served and want to help protect that shows such lack of basic knowledge.”
On June 11, 2009, the ACLU filed an initial complaint on Lamarre’s behalf with the Equal Employment Opportunity Counselor for the Eastern Region of the TSA charging that the TSA was violating its own policy barring discrimination against people with disabilities. TSA refused to reconsider its position, sending a fax explaining its position on July 29, 2009. Today, the ACLU submitted a formal complaint on Lamarre’s behalf in accordance with the administrative appeal procedures.
After TSA denied Lamarre’s initial complaint, the ACLU filed a formal complaint with the TSA today explaining to the agency that its reasons for refusing to hire Lamarre are based on incorrect assumptions about the health risks of people with HIV. In the fax sent to the ACLU, TSA also claims that Lamarre’s CD4 count, a measure of the number of white blood cells that fight infection, indicates a greater likelihood of infection. This information was obtained by the TSA from Lamarre’s doctor who provided the information and submitted a signed form to TSA affirming that HIV would not interfere with Lamarre’s ability to perform the duties of a baggage screener.
“TSA’s justifications for refusing to hire Michael indicate a lack of understand in what it means to have HIV,” said Robert F. Rosenwald, Jr., Director of the LGBT Advocacy Project at the ACLU of Florida. “Michael has been employed consistently throughout the entire time he has had HIV without it affecting his ability to work. It is supremely misguided of TSA to deny him the opportunity to earn a living just because he’s taking medication and his CD4 count falls below some arbitrary threshold.”
Lamarre has lived with HIV for 19 years. His viral load is nearly undetectable and he has never had any of the medical conditions associated with AIDS. Just last November he completed a 165-mile bicycle ride for charity in just 2 days.
“The typical combination drug therapy for HIV is three antiretroviral medications, and this therapy allows people with HIV to lead productive lives.” said Dr. Margaret Fischl, MD, director and principal investigator of the AIDS Clinical Research Unit at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “The fact that someone is receiving this treatment doesn’t mean that they are any more vulnerable to infection.”
In the spring of 2008, Lamarre applied online for a baggage screening position at the Fort Lauderdale airport with the TSA. He passed an aptitude test in November 2008, and then underwent a comprehensive security clearance. In March 2009, he was finally invited to come in for an interview. At the interview, which included further testing, he was told that he would have to pass a physical. Lamarre was required to disclose that he has HIV at the physical. As a result, he was told to submit additional information from his doctor, including his most recent lab results and a form from his doctor stating that his HIV would not interfere with his ability to perform the duties of as baggage screener, which he did.
Shortly after submitting the additional information, Lamarre received a letter from Comprehensive Health Services, the contractor who administered the physical, saying that he was disqualified for the job because of his HIV status. A copy of the letter is available here. During follow-up calls to Comprehensive Health Services, he was told that the reason he was rejected is because his HIV status makes him more susceptible to virus and infections and that it was for his own benefit.
A copy of the complaint filed by the ACLU, the fax outlining TSA’s reasons for refusing to hire Lamarre and other paperwork submitted in the case is available on our case profile page. Additionally, a YouTube video featuring an interview with Lamaree can be seen at .
In addition to Rosenwald, Lamarre is being represented by Shelbi Day, a staff attorney with the LGBT Advocacy Project of the ACLU of Florida; James Esseks, co-director of the ACLU’s AIDS Project; and Rose Saxe, a staff attorney with the ACLU’s AIDS Project.
HIV
TSA HIV Discrimination
HIV
TSA HIV Discrimination
Learn More About the Issues in This Press Release
-
News & CommentaryMar 2024
HIV
Fighting Back Against Discriminatory Laws That Impact People Living with HIVFighting Back Against Discriminatory Laws That Impact People Living with HIV
The ACLU is challenging a Tennessee law that criminalizes HIV status. This law unfairly prevents people from securing employment and housing. -
Press ReleaseNov 2023
HIV
Plaintiffs File Federal Suit to Overturn Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution StatutePlaintiffs File Federal Suit to Overturn Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution Statute
MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution statute and related sex offender registration requirements are unconstitutional and violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), according to a federal lawsuit filed today against the state by the American Civil Liberties Union, the Transgender Law Center, and the ACLU of Tennessee in the U.S. District Court in Memphis on behalf of four Jane Doe plaintiffs and OUTMemphis, the state’s oldest and largest service provider for LGBTQ+ people. Plaintiffs argue that the Aggravated Prostitution statute is rooted in fear and discrimination, targeting people living with HIV for harsh punishment and forcing them to register as “violent sex offenders” for the rest of their lives. Criminalizing people with HIV defies evidence-based best practices and is patently unlawful as it singles out people living with HIV — a protected disability — for harsher punishment. “People convicted of Aggravated Prostitution must spend years in prison and then register as violent sex offenders for the rest of their lives – meaning they cannot access the housing, employment, healthcare and community life that they need to get back on their feet,” said Molly Quinn, executive director of OUTMemphis. “This statute solely targets people because of their HIV status and keeps them in cycles of poverty, while posing absolutely zero benefit to public health and safety.” “HIV stigma is becoming a thing of the past, and it’s time for state law to catch up. OUTMemphis fights so that queer people are free to live in safety, with dignity, and we believe everyone deserves that regardless of their HIV status.” Tennessee’s Aggravated Prostitution law was passed in 1991 at a time of national panic over HIV. The law targets people engaged in sex work, enhancing their charges from misdemeanors to felonies solely based on HIV status, making it difficult to find other employment. Since then, many states have moved on from criminalizing HIV, better understanding the rates and methods of transmission and the way criminalization is counterproductive to effective testing and treatment. New treatments such as Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) can reduce viral loads to undetectable levels, blocking the possibility of transmission. And yet, Tennessee state law enhances sex work from a misdemeanor to a felony, solely based on HIV status, which has long been recognized as a disability protected from discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Tennessee has no comparable law for any other infectious disease, even those that are more prevalent and transmissible than HIV. “Disability discrimination is illegal,” said Alexis Agathocleous, deputy director of the National ACLU’s Racial Justice Program, “and yet the Aggravated Prostitution singles out economically-marginalized people living with HIV for excessively harsh punishment. The results are predictable: Black women are the targets of this archaic, unscientific law – many of whom are simply trying to secure food, a place to sleep, or a way to meet their basic needs.” Entirely divorced from science, Tennessee’s law applies indiscriminately, ignoring that either party to a sexual encounter can ensure against HIV transmission in many simple and effective ways. “Each of us, regardless of our race, our genders, or our HIV status, deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and welcomed as full members of our communities,” said Milo Inglehart (he/him), staff attorney at Transgender Law Center. “With today’s filing, we join the ACLU, ACLU-TN, OUTMemphis, and our individual plaintiffs to challenge the counterproductive and discriminatory Aggravated Prostitution statute that unlawfully singles out people living with HIV, disproportionately impacts Black transgender and cisgender women, and places lifelong, punitive restrictions on those who are criminalized for trying to survive.” “The Aggravated Prostitution statute is a relic from when HIV first emerged in the 1980s and is motivated by fear, misinformation and discrimination — not sound science or evidence,” said Jeff Preptit, ACLU-TN staff attorney. “Instead of criminalizing HIV, which disproportionately targets transgender and cisgender Black women who are already socially and financially marginalized, lawmakers should invest in evidence-based public health responses to support people living with HIV to end the epidemic. All Tennesseans should be able to live a full life free from discrimination and harm, regardless of our health conditions.” In addition to violating the ADA, the lawsuit also argues that, among other things, the law violates equal protection, due process and the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The plaintiffs are asking the court to strike down the Aggravated Prostitution statute and the resulting lifetime sex offender registration requirement as clearly discriminatory because they unlawfully punish people on the basis of a protected disability. The complaint filed today can be found online at: /cases/outmemphis-v-lee?document=Complaint Background on the legal challenge to Tennessee’s discriminatory Aggravated Prostitution law can be found here: /documents/fact-sheet-legal-challenge-to-tennessees-discriminatory-aggravated-prostitution-law For more information about the case: /cases/outmemphis-v-lee#legal-documents -
TennesseeOct 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+3 Issues
OUTMemphis v. LeeOUTMemphis v. Lee
OUTMemphis v. Lee is a first-of-its-kind challenge to a state-level HIV criminalization law as a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Constitution. Plaintiffs OUTMemphis and Jane Does 1-4 seek to strike down Tennessee’s discriminatory, irrational and cruel enforcement of its “Aggravated Prostitution” law and related sex offender registration requirements. -
PodcastOct 2023
LGBTQ Rights
+6 Issues
How ACT UP Changed the Face of AIDS and ActivismHow ACT UP Changed the Face of AIDS and Activism