Court Affirms Ban on Job Bias Against AIDS Patients

A Superior Court judge upheld Friday a precedent-setting state commission ruling that bans employers from discriminating against workers with AIDS.

Superior Court Judge Patrick McMahon sustained on appeal a 1987 ruling by the California Fair Employment and Housing Commission that AIDS patients are protected by state laws that guard the physically handicapped against job discrimination.

The commission’s ruling was directed at Raytheon Corp., which filed the appeal heard by McMahon. The firm contended its decision to prevent an employee with acquired immune deficiency syndrome from returning to work was reasonable given what was known about the disease at the time. The company also challenged the state’s authority to enforce discrimination laws based on physical handicap.

Died in 1985

The case involved John Chadbourne, 36, a quality control analyst at Raytheon in Goleta who brought the discrimination complaint in 1984. Chadbourne died in 1985 of AIDS-related cancer.

“It is now clear that in California employers may not discriminate against people with AIDS,” said Chris Redburn of the Employment Law Center in San Francisco, one of the attorneys who filed suit against Raytheon. “As long as people can do the job, they should be allowed to work.”

The decision also was hailed by homosexual rights activists.

“This helps counter the myth that AIDS can be transmitted by casual contact in the workplace,” said Jean O’Leary, executive director of National Gay Rights Advocates. “People with AIDS should be able to keep their dignity, their pride and their livelihood.”

Edward Powers, manager of public relations for Raytheon, an electronics firm with numerous defense contracts, said the company’s attorneys have not decided whether to appeal McMahon’s decision.

When Chadbourne was first diagnosed as having AIDS in December, 1983, Raytheon put him on medical leave. The company refused to let him return to work, despite assurances by his doctor that Chadbourne was able to work without endangering himself or others.

Chadbourne was healthy enough to perform his job from January through October, 1984, his attorneys said. During that time, he did volunteer work at the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Santa Barbara.

Commission Ruling

In unanimous rulings, the commission last year said Raytheon had violated a state law banning job discrimination against the physically handicapped and awarded damages of about $6,000 to his estate for lost wages. The money has not been paid, but 10% in annual interest will be added if the ruling stands.

It was the first time the commission had ruled that AIDS was a physical handicap under state law and that job discrimination against AIDS patients was illegal.

In upholding the commission’s ruling, McMahon stated in his decision: “The commission was well within its power when it rejected the view that a person with a physical disability can be excluded from the work force simply because . . . fear among co-workers might injure company morale. . . . It (the commission) ruled that neither ignorance and fear nor the serious consequences of AIDS justify any departure from the rules which required the employer to prove that there was indeed a danger of transmission to co- workers.”

But Raytheon spokesman Powers said, “We believe strongly we made the right decision, given the information available to us at the time about the potential risk to other people.”