The State - News from Sept. 11, 1985

The state Labor Commission rejected claims by four nurses at San Francisco General Hospital that they were victims of retaliation because they defied a hospital policy by wearing masks and gloves around AIDS patients. Deputy Labor Commissioner Timothy Sakamaki ruled that the hospital’s policy prohibiting such protective clothing was sound. The hospital does allow workers to wear the clothing if they will be in contact with body fluids of acquired immune deficiency syndrome patients. It is believed that the virus is transmitted via some body fluids. But the hospital discourages workers from wearing the items when they are merely near an AIDS patient to protect the feelings of AIDS victims and keep other patients from worrying unnecessarily, a hospital spokeswoman said.