January 15, 1999

NEW YORK, NY -- The American Civil Liberties Union today announced the settlement of an AIDS discrimination case in which Patrick Keegan Biggers, a homeless man, was evicted from a shelter in Maine because he was HIV positive.

Unlike most other settlements, the outcome involved no money and instead prompted a first-of-its-kind AIDS-awareness policy the ACLU hopes will serve as a model for shelters across the country.

This settlement creates a new AIDS educational curriculum and discrimination policy which can be easily adopted by other shelters to teach staff and residents how HIV is transmitted and what their responsibilities are under the law, said Michael Adams, the ACLU attorney on the case. Continued public ignorance and hostility against people with HIV only leads to continuing discrimination.

On December 23, 1997, administration at the Emmaus Center in Ellsworth, Maine evicted Biggers, saying that his HIV status was a needless risk to staff and residents. They defined the following actions as dangerous behavior: talking about his disease; handling a coffee cup; setting the table; asking to pick up a baby; and having dry sores on the back of his hands.

It made me feel like a leper, like a castaway, said Biggers about the experience.

The ACLU filed a complaint on Biggers' behalf with the Maine Human Rights Commission and demonstrated that the shelter had violated Biggers' rights under the American with Disabilities Act and the Maine Human Rights Act, both of which prohibit discrimination against people with disabilities or perceived disabilities. The shelter, which changed directors while the ACLU complaint was pending, then agreed to adopt the new AIDS awareness program and issue a letter of apology to Biggers. This was done in return for the ACLU and Biggers' agreement not to file a lawsuit or seek damages.

As a result of the settlement, the ACLU and the Down East AIDS Network (DEAN) of Ellsworth have developed educational training workshops which will be implemented to address shelter staff and residents' fears regarding the transmission of AIDS. The curriculum teaches people about AIDS and how and when to take precautionary measures, while reinforcing the basic guidelines of respect and equal treatment to which disabled individuals are entitled under the law.

Although this began as a conflict because of the violation of Patrick Biggers' rights, in the end the ACLU and the Emmaus Center worked together to develop a model AIDS program, said Adams. What Patrick wanted was to make sure this never happens to anybody else, and this settlement is a big step in that direction.

from the ACLU