Memphis ‘Officer of the Year’ sues Nashville Police Department after he rescinded job offer after he disclosed his HIV status and labeled him a danger to the public

A decorated Memphis police officer is suing the Nashville Police Department after he claims they rescinded a job offer after discovering his HIV-positive status and calling him a danger to the public.

The officer, who is black and filed the suit as “John Doe,” was once named Memphis police’s “Officer of the Year” before being offered the new position in 2020 under then-Police Chief Steve Anderson.

The federal lawsuit filed Friday details his record as having caught a murderer and consistently taking on the toughest jobs in the city of Memphis.

The officer found out he had HIV in 2015, years after he started working for the Memphis Police Department, where he had “received multiple awards for heroism.”

‘By any measure, [Doe] he has been a model officer and a credit to every police department and community he has served,” the lawsuit said, noting that he had been promoted to crisis intervention work and given a raise.

He knew he was HIV-positive long before Nashville police discovered him and has medical records showing his viral load is untraceable and untransmittable, qualifying him as a “threat to co-workers or members of the community.”

Doe’s wife took a job in Nashville, three hours east of Memphis, and Doe sought a transfer and applied for a job so he wouldn’t have to make the long drive to his wife and daughter.

The officer received his offer from Nashville police on February 25, 2020, pending a medical examination.

A doctor from the department took a blood sample without saying why, the lawsuit argues, and informed her of her HIV-positive status, which Doe had known for a long time.

The officer responded that he had been labeled undetectable, meaning the disease does not show up on viral load tests, but does show up on antibody tests, and he cannot transmit the virus, for more than five years.

He received a denial letter the following month from the Nashville police, who for years have complained about be severely understaffed and it still is in 2023, even in the wake of a deadly school shooting at the beginning of this year.

“The Civil Service Medical Officer’s report states that it is not recommended that he attend the Police Academy,” the refusal letter read.

‘All applications for the Police Officer Trainee position must meet or exceed the medical standards set forth in the United States Army Induction Standards, 40-501.’

The officer, who is black and filed the suit as “John Doe,” was once named the Memphis Police “Officer of the Year” before he was offered the new position in 2020 under then-Police Chief Steve Anderson (pictured)

The federal lawsuit filed Friday details his record as having caught a murderer and consistently taking on the toughest jobs in the city of Memphis.

The Nashville police use the same standards as the United States Army in medical examinations.

The lawsuit claimed that Nashville police “blatantly indicated” that his HIV-positive status meant they would not hire him regardless.

It argues that John Doe “did not pose a significant risk to others and was otherwise qualified for the job he had applied for” and was therefore discriminated against and violates federal law.

“Policies that categorically deny jobs to people because of their HIV status are so out of date with the science,” said José Abrigo, who directs the HIV Project for Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund.

The Abrigo fund represents John Doe.

“In this case, our client has been undetectable,” he said. the daily beast.

‘He is HIV positive, [but] he is perfectly healthy. It is the old stigma of HIV, which operates under this concept… [that] if you’re standing next to someone with HIV, you could catch it.’

Doe has had appeals and medical waivers rejected by the department.

Abrigo said the lawsuit was filed at the federal level because the military code cited by Nashville police has already been struck down.

“Lambda also challenged the military code, so now, starting in April 2022, people living with HIV can join the military,” he said. ‘So that no longer holds.’

Instead, the officer took a position with the Tennessee Highway Patrol, but the lawsuit claims he has faced “emotional pain and suffering, stress, anxiety, loss of enjoyment of life, humiliation, inconvenience, and other monetary and dignified damages.”

Abrigo criticized policies that prevent people with HIV from serving, calling them outdated.

“Everyone has the right to be able to support their families and get a job, regardless of their disability status,” he said. ‘…Unfortunately, things like this still exist throughout the country. but we are challenging [these policies] one by one.’

Allison Brussell, an attorney with the Metropolitan Nashville Law Department, issued a statement in response.

“We have not yet received the lawsuit and respectfully decline to comment on the pending litigation.”

Anderson, the police chief at the time of the decision, has already resigned.