THREAD -HIV-Positive Airmen Call Discharge Discriminatory
Filed in a federal ct in VA, the men's complaint notes that the DoD issued a “Deploy or Get Out Policy” in February, which mandated the discharge of all service members who were not “worldwide deployable” for 12 months.
Filed in a federal ct in VA, the men's complaint notes that the DoD issued a “Deploy or Get Out Policy” in February, which mandated the discharge of all service members who were not “worldwide deployable” for 12 months.
“This directive arguably would have applied to almost all service members living with HIV,” according to the airmen's atty. Though the department modified the memo in July, stating that service members living with HIV would be categorized as “deployable with limitations" ...
The plaintiffs say this runs contrary to an already established Air Force policy that says service members need evaluation, treatment and an annual check-up to be approved for continued service once they are diagnosed as HIV positive.
“Singling out service members with HIV for starkly different treatment is a vestige of an unfortunate time when HIV was untreatable and invariably fatal,” the plaintiffs say.
Air Force policy also plainly states that HIV-positive status alone is “not grounds for medical separation or retirement for active-duty Air Force members."
The policy says Air Force service members must be retained “so long as they are able to perform the duties of their office, grade, rank and/or rating… they may not be separated solely on the basis of laboratory evidence of HIV infection.”
You can read the plaintiff's complaint in full here: documentcloud.org/documents/5655…
Or check out my story here: courthousenews.com/hiv-positive-a…
