A decorated Memphis police officer is suing the Metro Police Department of Nashville after claiming they withdrew a job when they discovered he was HIV positive.
The Nashville Police Department labeled the officer a “danger to the public,” the officer claimed.
The officer knew he was HIV positive long before the Nashville police found out and has medical records showing his viral load is untraceable and non-transmissible, calling him not a “threat to colleagues or community members.”
The officer, who is black and filed charges as “John Doe,” was once named the Memphis Police Department’s “Officer of the Year” before being offered the new position at Nashville in 2020 under then-police chief Steve Anderson.
Allison Brussell, an attorney for the Nashville Metropolitan Department of Law, released a statement saying they declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Anderson, the police chief at the time of the decision, has since resigned.
A decorated Memphis police officer is suing the Nashville Police Department after claiming they withdrew a job when they discovered he was HIV positive and called him a danger to the public
The federal lawsuit filed Friday describes the agent’s background as having a killer and consistently taking on the city of Memphis’ toughest assignments.
The officer discovered he had HIV in 2015, years after joining the Memphis Police Department, where he had “received multiple awards for heroism.”
‘In any degree, [Doe] has been a model officer and an asset to every police department and community he has served,” the lawsuit stated, which also noted that he had been promoted to crisis intervention work and given a pay raise.
Doe’s wife took a job in Nashville, three hours east of Memphis, and Doe tried to get a transfer and applied for a job so he wouldn’t have to make the long commute to his wife and daughter, the filing said.
The officer received his offer on February 25, 2020 from the Nashville Police Department, pending a medical examination.
A doctor from the department took a blood sample without saying why, argued the lawsuit, and informed the officer of his HIV-positive status – which Doe had known for a long time.
The officer argued that he had been labeled undetectable for more than five years – in that the disease does not show up on viral load tests but on antibody tests and he cannot transmit the virus.
He received a rejection letter from the Nashville Police Department the following month, which has been complained about for years are severely understaffedeven in the aftermath of one deadly school shooting earlier this year.
“The state medical report states that you are not advised to go to the Police Academy,” the rejection letter stated.
“All applications for the position of police officer trainee must meet or exceed the medical standards set forth in the United States Army Induction Standards, 40-501.”
The officer, who is black and filed suit as “John Doe,” was once named the Memphis PD’s “Officer of the Year” before being offered the new position in 2020 under then-chief of police Steve Anderson (pictured)
The federal lawsuit filed Friday describes his background as having a murderer and consistently taking on the city of Memphis’ toughest assignments.
The Nashville Police Department uses the same standards as the U.S. military for medical exams.
The lawsuit alleged that the Nashville Police Department had “blatantly indicated” that his HIV-positive status meant they would not hire him anyway.
It states that John Doe “posed no significant risk to others and was otherwise qualified for the job he applied for” and was therefore discriminated against and in violation of federal law.
“Policies that categorically deny people jobs because of their HIV status are outdated in science,” said Jose Abrigo, who leads the HIV project for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund and represents the officer.
“In this case, our client was undetectable,” he said The everyday beast.
He is HIV positive [but] he is perfectly healthy. It’s the old HIV stigma, operating under this concept… [that] if you stand next to someone with HIV, you can catch it.’
Doe has both appeals and medical waivers denied by the department.
Abrigo said the lawsuit is being filed federally because the military code cited by the Nashville Police Department has since been overturned.
“Lambda also challenged the military code so that people living with HIV can now enlist in the military from April 2022,” he said. “So that won’t hold anymore.”
The officer has instead taken up a position with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, but the lawsuit alleges he suffered “emotional pain and suffering, stress, anxiety, loss of joy, humiliation, inconvenience, and other financial and high value harm.”
The lawsuit calls for a court order to stop the Nashville Police Department from refusing to hire people living with HIV. It also asks for the officer’s lost wages, bonuses, and benefits — along with an undetermined amount of compensation.
Abrigo denounced policies that prevent people with HIV from serving, calling them outdated.
“Everyone has the right to support their family and get a job, regardless of their disability,” he said. ‘…Unfortunately, this kind of thing still exists all over the country. But we are defiant [these policies] one by one.’