j u s t o u t ▼ n o v e m b e r 7 , 1 9 9 7 ▼ 11
They Were the Best of Friends
It Was the Worst of limes
Back to w o rk
Conference explores issues facing people with AIDS
whose treatment has enabled them to return to the workplace
▼
by Bob Roehr
J
ack Brewer-Lopez had wanted to be a
flight attendant from the time he was a
small child in Wichita, Kan.
sible for keeping it confidential,” explains con­
sultant Nancy Breuer, adding that companies are
legally liable for any breech of that confidential­
ity.
What seems to work best, both legally and
operationally, is not an AIDS-specific policy but
a broader company disability policy that is uni­
formly implemented. Coworkers do not have a
need to know why accommodations are being
made for a worker, only that they are being made
and that their colleague’s confidentiality is being
respected.
Some companies have found that such poli­
cies pay off.
“The bottom line is in our self-insurance plan
where per capita costs are lower than in 1994,”
says Lynn Franzoi, senior vice president for ben­
efits at the entertainment industry’s Fox Inc.
Michael Losey, president of the Society for
Human Resource Management, says there are
also negatives to not doing the right thing.
He says Texaco
ended up in court and
lost. It brought much
bad publicity to the
company, tied up the
CEO at trial for six
weeks, and had a dev­
astating effect on em­
ployee morale.
In 1991 his dream came true when he
began working for United Airlines.
“I sort of took my identity from my job,” he
says. “I think a lot of people do that. But when I
stopped working [because of HI V infection], there
went my identity as well as my self-esteem.”
Brewer-Lopez went on disability retirement
and stayed on for two years. A then-experimental
drug regimen, however, revived his flesh and his
spirits.
“I started feeling like maybe I could return to
work,” he said, adding that his doctor supported
the decision.
“I notified the company and returned to work
in October of last year,” he says. “Quite frankly I
was amazed at the reaction that I received from
United. I didn’t necessarily expect to be treated
badly, but I certainly didn’t expect to be treated
nearly as well as I have
been.
“My supervisor and
base m anager both
said, ‘What do you
want, what do you
need, what can we do?
All you have to do is
tell us, we will take care
oone knows how
of it. ’ And my cowork­
many HIV-posi­
ers have been very,
tive people are
very supportive. We
looking to return to
flight attendants tend
work. One estimate is
to take care of each
that 150,000 people are
other.”
on powerful combina­
But
Brewer-
tion drug therapy,
Lopcz’s return to work
though many of them
w asn’t all a bed of
have never stopped
roses.
working.
I didn t realize I j ack Brewer-Lopez
The Howard Brown Clinic in Chicago sur­
couldn’t just jump back
veyed its predominately gay clientele and found
in and immediately work a full schedule,” he says.
that three-quarters of people on disability are
Why? Because he simply doesn’t have the
considering going back to work. The average
same stamina. The changes in time zone and air
respondent was 38 and had been retired three and
pressure affect him more, and he suffers increased
a half years; more than 80 percent did not view
problems, like sinus infections.
their old jobs as viable or desirable.
According to Brewer-Lopez, United has made
“For people who have looked death in the eye,
accommodations as needed. He adds that going
this has been a very transformational experi­
back to work has helped him “have a better
ence,” says Chuck Einloth, director of the HIV/
attitude about myself’ and experience better physi­ AIDS Workplace Education Project at the George
cal health as well.
Meany Center for Labor Studies, AFL-CIO.
Brewer-Lopez’s story has a happily-ever-
“Folks now are saying, ‘I’m looking at the
after quality that is not universal, but is becoming
reality that I could live another 20 years. I don’t
more common. These issues were explored at the
want to continue doing the work I’ve been doing
National Business and Labor Conference on HIV/
for the last however many years. I want to rein­
AIDS in late September.
vent myself,’ ” he says. “They are highly moti­
vated to make a significant investment in a new
he Americans with Disabilities Act, the
career track.”
Rehabilitation Act, and some state civil
Companies change, too.
rights and disability laws protect workers
Jeff Monford, director of workplace consult­
with HIV on the job.
ing services with the National AIDS Fund, says
Employers must make “reasonable accommo­
technological innovations also quickly date work­
dations” for the limitations of a disability but they
place skills.
are not obligated to make the “best" accommoda­
He says retraining and vocational rehabilita­
tions.
tion are important considerations when ponder­
“The employee must come forward and claim
ing back-to-work strategics.
the disability in order to benefit,” stresses Darryl
Monford urges people with AIDS and their
Alexander, an occupational safety and health
advisors to seek out creative links to qualify for
coordinator with the American Federation of established vocational rehabilitation or college
Teachers.
assistance programs— including those designed
A claim of disability does not carry an obliga­ for veterans, ex-felons and people with a past
tion to reveal the cause of that disability. In fact,
history of substance abuse—or new programs
there is an incentive for employers not to know
keyed to welfare reform.
the reason.
“Once you have the diagnosis you are respon­
T
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