THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, January 17, 1997              TAG: 9701180436
SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B2   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: NEWPORT NEWS                      LENGTH:   42 lines

NURSE SUES RIVERSIDE, SAYING FIRING WAS WRONG

A nurse who claims he was fired as an operating room assistant because he was infected with the AIDS virus is suing Riverside Regional Medical Center, claiming the hospital violated his rights.

The complaint, filed by a plaintiff identified only as John Doe, alleges that the hospital fired him after learning during a physical that he carries the virus. The suit seeks $300,000 in damages.

The hospital said the nurse worked about 15 hours a week from Aug. 7 to Aug. 25, 1995, and never tended to a patient. The hospital said it learned the man had the virus during the employee orientation period.

``The action taken was designed to protect our patients from exposure to transmittable disease, and was in conformity with the Americans with Disabilities Act,'' a statement from the hospital said.

The action also took into account guidelines established by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.

Chai Feldblum, an associate professor at the Georgetown University Law Center, said the hospital may have violated the law.

The ADA bars an employer from denying a job to a qualified worker because of a disability. The only exceptions are if the disability prevents the worker from doing the work, or if the disability presents ``some significant risk'' to others, she said.

Under those guidelines, even an HIV-infected surgeon or surgical nurse cannot be considered a significant risk to patients, especially when no effort is made to tailor work tasks to the disability, Feldblum said.

Nurses usually hand instruments to doctors, make notes or monitor equipment, said Adelisa Panlilio, a CDC physician. The most likely possibility of transmitting HIV during surgery would result from a cut to the finger that comes into contact with the patient's mouth or open wound, she said.

``In general, it's not the nurses who are handling the sharp objects, it's the doctors,'' Padlilio said.

The lawsuit claimed the nurse was fired without cause and without being given ``reasonable accommodation on account of his HIV-positive status.''

KEYWORDS: LAWSUIT AIDS