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 goes after the Golden Arches -- and Wins McDonald's is Hit by a Jury over HIV-Related Discrimination Ohio's Russell Rich Awarded $5 Million After a 9 Day Trial |
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By Peter Cassels Courtesy of Bay Windows In what sounds like the plot for the 1993 Oscar-winning film Philadelphia, an Akron, Ohio, gay man with HIV filed a lawsuit against the largest fast-food company on earth, after he was forced to resign his management position in 1997. Like the movie's Tom Hanks character, Russell Rich ultimately was victorious.
In an interview with the publication GayToday in September 2000, Rich reported that he became ill with full-blown AIDS in January 1997 and was hospitalized for 21 days. Shortly after returning to work at the franchise, he was offered a management position with the chain's corporate entity. According to Martin, Rich was interested in the transfer because he saw no possibility of further advancement with the franchise and wanted the medical benefits. Interviewed by Odell Jones, McDonald's senior human resources director, Rich did not mention he had AIDS, but, according to the GayToday article, clearly stated that he'd need health insurance because of a pre-existing condition. He said he presented Jones with a "letter of insurability." Jones assured him that there would be no problem. "It's open enrollment," Rich quoted Jones as saying, and declined to take the letter, insisting it wouldn't be needed and that Rich would be covered. "Had Jones not promised me health insurance at my interview I would never have left my [previous] position," Rich told GayToday. "I was provided health care there for my condition and if I'd left to go to a job where I didn't have health insurance, well, it would be like holding a gun to my own head." Rich's attorney related to Bay Windows the events that resulted in his dismissal: "Russell was placed in a store in Minerva, Ohio, about an hour's drive southeast of Akron. He was assigned to a general manager who would not permit him to perform the normal duties of a store manager. Two weeks later, he was hospitalized. When [his boss] visited him she discovered that he had a quarantine sign on his door that read: 'Stop. See nurse.'" According to Martin, the manager became alarmed and told Jones. Rich returned to work with a doctor's slip, which was refused. Instead, he was required to sign a release of medical records as a condition of his continuing employment. It was at that point, Martin reported, that Rich told McDonald's he had AIDS. Rich's manager assigned him long working hours and told him he could not handle food, Martin explained. "They adamantly refused to let him schedule working hours for employees or order supplies," she said. "Those are the two key management functions that play into the profitability of a store. He was disciplined in August 1997 for job abandonment, an offense that can cause an employee to be terminated. He also was told that because he had delegated closing the store [to another employee in order] to shorten his long working hours, he had abandoned his shift and that in the future he had to call his general manager to leave the store." A McDonald's human resources officer testified at trial that the job abandonment citation had been made in error, according to Martin, and that Jones should have removed it from Rich's personnel file. Martin also presented evidence that Rich had complained to his doctor and his supervisor about the excessive work hours: "The operations manager told him that she was too busy to talk to him for two weeks. He said he couldn't tolerate the working conditions and that he would have to take an unpaid leave of absence, which he did." Rich traveled to Florida for a long weekend (Martin said that at trial McDonald's "tried to paint it like he took a lark"). While there, he became ill and was hospitalized for gall bladder surgery. It was then that Rich discovered that he did not have any health insurance. McDonald's "had failed to enroll him," Martin reported. "They said it was a mistake, but it was a shock he had to live through. From his hospital bed, he was frantically calling his doctor and insurance provider in Akron. He discovered that he would not be covered for any AIDS-related illnesses or medication because it was a pre-existing condition." McDonald's, Martin said, eventually paid the $30,000 hospital bill, but "Russell is stuck with paying all his HIV treatment costs and obviously cannot get that insurance now. He also lost his life insurance. They never enrolled him in life insurance but did take out payroll deductions. I think anybody can make an honest mistake. That's possible. But once he brought it to their attention that they had neglected to put his health insurance through, they should also have put his life insurance through. McDonald's never reimbursed him for the premium deductions." After leaving McDonald's, Rich worked briefly for a department store and two other chain restaurants, then had to go on disability. Recently, he felt well enough to return to work and is now employed by Summa Health Systems in Akron.
Catherine Hanssens, Lambda Legal Defense Fund AIDS project director, agreed that punishment likely was the jury's motivation: "I think it does sound like for a corporation of this size to really intentionally torture a person to force him to leave, which is called a constructive termination. You create an environment so hostile that no normal person could tolerate it. It's McDonald's, so I think the jury probably looked at the tenor of the abuse and the ability to pay and $5 million seemed reasonable to them. The jury decided Mr. Rich deserved 'a break today.'" Ben Klein, an attorney at the Boston-based Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders who specializes in HIV discrimination cases, echoed that assessment in an interview: "Obviously, it's a pretty large award, but I think awards of this size have to reflect a jury's anger and that was likely because there was pretty egregious and blatant discrimination going on." Klein added that HIV discrimination today is based on an employer's fears and concerns about the cost of health and life insurance rather than about how HIV is transmitted. |
