U.S. lawsuit: A McDonald's worker was fired for being HIV-positive

Source: Reuters

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said on Tuesday it has filed a lawsuit accusing the operators of a McDonald's restaurant in Bentonville, Arkansas, of firing a worker because he was HIV-positive.

In its complaint against Mathews Management Co and Peach Orchard Inc, the EEOC said the worker was fired in February 2015 after admitting to the restaurant's general manager to having had "an interest" in a co-worker, and telling that co-worker about his HIV-positive status.

The EEOC said the fired worker had been questioned a week earlier by his shift manager, and told he might lose his job because the defendants had previously fired a female worker who was also HIV-positive.

"People with HIV face enough obstacles in their lives," said Katharine Kores, an EEOC district director in Memphis, which has jurisdiction over Arkansas, in a statement. "The ability to work in an environment free of discrimination should not be one of them."

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Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mcdonalds-hiv-lawsuit-idUSKCN0ZL2TZ