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You all know by now that I am adamantly for any efforts to demystify HIV. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: you cannot get HIV through skin to skin contact. It is transmitted through blood and mucus membranes, meaning that if an HIV positive individual touches you, or touches your food, they are not going to transmit the virus to you.
In light of this information, it’s quite saddening to see that there are still people who still discriminate against those that are HIV positive. Especially when this discrimination can cost someone access to proper health care.
A Naples, Florida news outlet is reporting that a gay Naples couple who believe that they were fired from their job at a restaurant because they were …
… HIV positive. One of the men was an assistant manager, while his partner was a server.
According to their lawsuit, the men were fired after telling their boss that they were HIV positive. The couple states that:
They began receiving letters about their work performance and met with [their boss]. On June 6, they allege, she and Ridgway fired them and asked the staff not to say anything about the couple because it would “ruin the restaurant’s reputation.”
Right, because having HIV positive employees is embarrassing. Of course.
The restaurant is denying that the couples’ HIV positive status had anything to do with their termination, and say that it was in fact poor work performance that led to the decision to fire them. However, the 1 million dollar lawsuit states that both men were “exceptional employees,” who received “numerous compliments” from patrons.
And in the words of one of the men “we don’t have anything to hide.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself.
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This is about Naples, so it doesn’t surprise me in the least that the restaurant would think having HIV positive employees might tarnish their image. I believe the median age in Naples is hovering somewhere around 70. It’s full of crusty old social conservatives who eat at restaurants on a daily basis (because they’re retired dammit, they shouldn’t have to cook!). My grandparents have a condo in Naples. My grandfather wouldn’t let my grandmother invite her hair stylist over for cards because “he’s a homo and he might bring his boyfriend!”
AIDS: Believe it or not, it’s not transferred just like the flu! Or the Bubonic plague.
One question:
If someone with AIDS made a sandwich for you would you feel comfortable eating it?
“A few have also become infected by HIV-infected blood getting into the bloodstream through an open cut, or splashing onto a mucous membrane (e.g. the eyes or the inside of the nose).”
So an open wound, blood on a sandwich and there you go. It is possible.
It would be highly implausible though, wouldn’t it? You would have to have a cold sore in the mouth or an ulcer and the blood would have to hit that spot. I can see how it’s theoretically possible, but I don’t know how probable it is.
A friend of mine was cooking with me shortly after an HIV diagnosis. It was only an extreme effort of will that stopped me from taking the knife from him.
That may not be a good thing, but it’s a true thing.
I know it’s politically correct to say that these two employees have the right to work there and the assistant manager probably doesn’t come in contact with food so he’d be fine.
But the server is a different story, he comes in contact with food. I would not feel comfortable with that. Sorry, but there is a risk. An open wound, blood on a plate, and I wipe my nose with my hand and the risk is real (granted it’s small but it’s there).
I’d say the assistant manager may have a case because he doesn’t touch food but some mangers do help to prepare food in busy times.
This server with HIV (and definitely a chef) IMO should be not be near food.
Again we are talking about a disease with no cure. I can’t take even a .01% chance. I can’t be politically correct here.
I’ve worked as a server way back and I can tell you having an open wound on my hand did not stop me from serving or even worse, doing the dishes. Dsigusting? Yes, but I had to pay the bills. You can’t trust people to be careful. Someone with HIV should not be near food.
This is simply a safety issue. I don’t want anyone in the food industry to be sick in any way especially with an infectious contagious fatal diseases. Period.
If your dentist was HIV, would you go to him/her?
I worked in a restaurant and if we cut ourselves even just a little bit ALL of whatever we were cutting had to be thrown out and the knife had to be put in the industrial dishwasher immediately. Any open wounds had to be bandaged (our manager once told me to get a bandaid for a hangnail…..) and we were expected to wear gloves. So, as long as precautions are taken, there’s no danger. Just like if you use a condom properly you won’t get pregnant.
@Morwen:
The restaurant you worked in is a great example of those that take sanitation seriously.
Have you ever watched an episode of Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares? There are thousands of restaurants where the employers and employees don’t give two shits about sanitation.
Most people who are infected with HIV are from not using a condom. How can we expect people who didn’t look out for their well being to place a higher priority on our well-being?
Also what you are saying is we can expect every restaurant worker to never work near food with an open cut on their hand? That’s a little naive. I had an open cut on my finger years ago and was told if I couldn’t do the dishes to go home. It was my choice. I had to pay the bills so I stayed and washed the dishes.
If we could trust all restaurants to treat food safely we wouldn’t need health inspectors. I have seen people pick up food off the ground and serve it. I have seen employees use the bathroom and smoke and then not wash their hands.
People who are sick, even just colds, shouldn’t be working around food. Period. We are talking about a disease that can kill. You take that chance because I am not.
Brian, I understand and agree with your point under normal circumstances – people are unsanitary in the worst of situations. I worked in a cafe that I would never eat at; there were roaches in the kitchen, people never wore gloves when they were supposed to, etc. However, people with HIV know that they need to take extra precautions. They know they could risk infecting others and that there’s much more at stake if they don’t follow proper sanitation procedures. Everyone I know with HIV is extra vigilant about this. When they are injured they make everyone back away and won’t let anyone touch them until they get things cleaned up. They always inform medical personnel of their status so they can double-glove. I would venture to assert that there is a much lower risk of people who have been diagnosed with HIV cutting corners in the hygiene department because they don’t just have a cold. They know how shitty it is to live with the disease they have, and they aren’t about to give it to someone else if they can do anything to prevent it.
Again, that requires personal responsibility. Most of our policies today don’t consider that sufficient.
I agree with Brian here – as harsh as it may seem, I wouldn’t be comfortable at all knowing that the chef or waiter have AIDS. I would be scared of eating the food they prepared. Strangest things have happened. And after saying this, I want to add I believe people with HIV/AIDS should not be discriminated against, but I also believe they shouldn’t perform jobs where there is a risk of transmitting the disease to others.
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