Martin Caprow; AIDS Patient Sued Law Firm

Martin Caprow, a San Diego lawyer who claimed that he was illegally fired because he had AIDS, much like the hero of the popular film “Philadelphia,” has died. He was 38.

Caprow died Wednesday in a Los Angeles hospital of the complications of AIDS.

His case earned national attention because the film starring Tom Hanks was playing in theaters during the trial of Caprow’s lawsuit in February. Both the Hanks character and Caprow waged their litigation despite poor health to protect all gays and lesbians and AIDS victims from employment discrimination.

Caprow saw the film on the eve of the trial of his own lawsuit, and told The Times it “was like watching my own nightmare.”

The film’s story paralleled Caprow’s in many ways, but ended quite differently. Hanks’ character won his civil case, but Caprow lost.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Vincent DeFiglia ruled March 16 that Caprow failed to prove he was fired in 1992 because he was HIV-positive. The law firm had argued that the young lawyer was let go because the firm had lost half of its clients in the economic downturn and needed to cut its staff of 15 lawyers and paralegals to seven.

A Los Angeles law firm later offered Caprow a job at a higher salary, but Caprow chose to stay in San Diego and do voluntary legal work for the local AIDS Foundation.

Caprow graduated from Arizona State University in 1978 and from Western State University College of Law in San Diego in 1988. Before attending law school, he worked as marketing director for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Survivors include Caprow’s companion, Terry Everline; his mother, Naomi, of Chicago; two brothers, Julian of Los Angeles and Robert of Highlands Ranch, Colo., and a sister, Marla D’Avanzo of Murrieta, Calif.