HIV-Infected Student Fights LACC’s Ruling on Professor : Education: The teacher will go unpunished after expressing concern over handling Wayne Karr’s papers. Karr said he is considering a lawsuit.

An HIV-infected Los Angeles City College student said he plans to appeal the college’s decision not to discipline a professor who expressed concern about handling the student’s papers.

The student, Wayne Karr, also said he is considering a lawsuit against the college and against political science professor Don J. Wilson, who, in front of a class of nearly 60 students, said he feared he might contract the AIDS virus if he handled Karr’s papers.

Karr, who was found to have the virus that causes acquired immune deficiency syndrome in 1986, filed a grievance after the Sept. 19 incident, charging Wilson with discrimination and demanding that the professor be fired.

But last week, after a two-month investigation and interviews with more than a dozen students, LACC President Jose Robledo ruled that although the statements “should not have been made,” they did not warrant punishment because they stemmed from ignorance--not maliciousness.

In the grievance, Karr alleged that after he announced that he had AIDS, Wilson said he would decide in a week whether Karr could remain enrolled in the government class.

However, Wilson told campus officials afterward that he did not intend to bar the student from the class. He said he was simply concerned about the risk to his own health and wanted a week to satisfy himself that he would not contract AIDS by handling Karr’s papers.

Robledo said interviews with students during the investigation supported Wilson’s interpretation of the exchange.

“He said he had to think about handling those papers because he wasn’t sure if the virus was transmitted by papers,” Robledo said. “That was his mistake. He did not take any action to exclude Wayne Karr from the class.”

Robledo also noted that since the incident, Wilson has voluntarily met with doctors and attended workshops to learn more about the transmission of AIDS.

“He’s taken corrective measures,” Robledo said. “He’s made an effort to make himself more aware of HIV and AIDS.”

Robledo said the college has renewed its AIDS education efforts in the wake of the incident by hiring a staff member for the school’s AIDS Education Center, which was closed much of last year. The college also held an AIDS education symposium.

However, Karr said he intends to appeal Robledo’s decision with the state chancellor’s office for the California Community Colleges.

Karr said Wilson’s ignorance was “inexcusable” and that LACC officials are trying to minimize what happened to cover up their failure to provide adequate AIDS education on campus.

Karr’s attorney, William J. Flanagan, said he is considering a lawsuit against the college for failing to follow the Los Angeles Community District AIDS education policy.

Adopted in November, 1989, the policy states that all campuses in the district must develop a comprehensive AIDS education program for students and employees.