The State - News from Oct. 19, 1986

Setting aside a hearing officer’s proposed ruling that would have allowed a worker with AIDS to be fired, the Fair Employment and Housing Commission agreed in San Francisco to hear the first case presented it involving alleged AIDS discrimination. The commission’s ruling was welcomed by the group representing the victim’s family, the AIDS Civil Rights Project for National Gay Rights Advocates, although it does not necessarily indicate how the state agency will decide the case. John Chadbourne of Santa Barbara, who died of AIDS-related cancer last year, was a quality control analyst for the Raytheon Co. After being hospitalized, his doctor said he could return to work, but Raytheon officials said Chadbourne could not be reinstated without “more positive assurances” that other employees would not be endangered. Representatives of the firm could not be reached for comment on the commission’s decision.