Clarksville, Justice Department come to agreement in reserve officer’s HIV discrimination suit

A southern Indiana reserve police officer who sued the town of Clarksville after it withdrew his conditional offer of employment due to his HIV diagnosis has reached a settlement with the town, the U.S. Department of Justice has announced.

The DOJ filed a proposed consent decree with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana on Thursday to resolve its lawsuit alleging the Clarksville Police Department and Clarksville Metropolitan Board of Fire, Police and Safety Commissioners unlawfully revoked a job offer to a qualified law enforcement officer based on his HIV diagnosis.

Under the terms of the consent decree, Clarksville must revise its policies and procedures regarding employment-related medical examinations and must train relevant personnel on the requirements of Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals on the basis of disability, including discrimination in the form of withdrawing a job offer to a qualified individual based on unsupported and stereotypical views of the applicant’s disability.

According to the complaint, the volunteer reserve officer had been successfully working for the town’s police department for more than one year and was fully qualified to work as a police officer.

When he received a conditional offer of employment as a police officer in 2015, the post was contingent upon him passing a state-mandated medical examination prescribed by the Indiana Public Retirement System.

The examiner who conducted the officer’s exam allegedly advised Clarksville’s police chief that the complainant did not meet the statewide medical standards because his HIV was a “communicable disease” that posed a “‘significant risk of substantial harm to the health and safety’ of his colleagues and the public.” As such, the job offer was withdrawn.

“Workers living with HIV, including those in law enforcement, deserve to be free from unlawful discrimination,” Indiana Southern District U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers said in a news release. “This settlement will ensure that qualified individuals who seek to serve their communities won’t be excluded as a result of unfounded stereotypes and misinformation about HIV.”

The agreement also requires the town to pay $150,000 in compensatory damages to the officer and provide him with an affidavit that makes clear to future employers that his termination was “unrelated to any action, or lack of qualification on his part.”

The case was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Indiana and the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division.

“No individual should be subject to employment discrimination based on their HIV status,” Kristen Clarke, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said in the news release. “The complainant’s dream job was taken away because of unfounded assumptions that his HIV diagnosis would impact his ability to safely do the job.”

The federal district court must now approve the consent decree, the DOJ said.