A Subway restaurant in central Indiana faces a federal lawsuit for terminating one of its employees.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission says the franchise in Sheridan fired the employee after he told his boss that he is HIV positive.
According to the EEOC, that is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and therefore discrimination against the employee.
See the court documents here.
The Subway restaurant owner hired the employee, referred to as John Doe in the lawsuit, at the Sheridan restaurant on January 1st, 2015. Twelve days later, John Doe informed his supervisor he was HIV positive.
"There is a stereotype that people who are in the restaurant business are contagious and that people can contract HIV through food," said Nancy Edmonds, EEOC attorney.
Court documents say the supervisor responded, "What if you cut yourself?" and "What about it if our customers find out?"
John Doe says on February 14th, his supervisor called saying the manager felt that he might be a liability to the company and fired him.
"I think it's important for the public to see that discrimination occurs especially for people who are HIV positive," said Edmonds.
The EEOC says it could not reach an agreement with the Subway shop owner about putting John Doe back to work. The lawsuit not only calls for back pay but also punitive damages saying the owner violated John Doe's federally protected rights.
John Doe is asking for back pay and money for damages. The employee's attorney, Laurie Young, says he was "fully capable of working and was experienced in the restaurant industry....he was terminated solely because of stereotypes his employer had regarding persons with HIV."
We contacted the Subway for comment, but was told the owner wasn't in to respond.
Learn about HIV transmission
From the CDC: Except for rare cases in which children consumed food that was pre-chewed by an HIV-infected caregiver, HIV has not been spread through food. The virus does not live long outside the body. You cannot get it from consuming food handled by an HIV-infected person; even if the food contained small amounts of HIV-infected blood or semen, exposure to the air, heat from cooking, and stomach acid would destroy the virus.
