Judge Blocks Bid for HIV Test Disclosure

In a reaffirmation of California’s privacy law, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday blocked a Hawthorne firm’s attempt to learn whether a former employee’s gay lover has contracted the AIDS virus.

Judge William Huss denied a motion by Amrex-Zetron, a maker of medical equipment, to compel former employee John C. Herbert to disclose in a deposition whether his longtime companion, Douglas Good, has tested positively for the human immunodeficiency virus.

Herbert, who has tested positive for HIV but has not developed AIDS, contends in a lawsuit that on-the-job harassment based on the mistaken belief he had AIDS drove him from his job.