Summer 2000 OCR UPdate - 16
OCR Reaches Agreement with Los Angeles County to Prohibit Discrimination Based on HIV Status (Region IX)
In October 1999, OCR reached an agreement with the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) that will ensure persons with HIV are not denied employment or training opportunities in violation of federal civil rights laws.
The agreement closed a complaint filed with OCR by a person with HIV who had been accepted into a job training program operated by the county. OCR's investigation revealed that DHS terminated the trainee's participation in the externship immediately upon hearing of her HIV status. OCR's investigation confirmed that the complainant met all eligibility criteria for the assignment as a phlebotomist/laboratory specimens technician at a DHS outpatient health care center.
As a result of OCR's findings, DHS agreed to offer reinstatement to the complainant to enable her to complete her training and receive a certificate that will quality her for jobs in the public and private sectors. Additionally, DHS agreed to provide annual in-service training to all employees on issues pertaining to HIV in the workplace and infection control procedures. DHS also will train managers on the legal rights of persons with HIV and ensure that all persons with a disability who interact with DHS have access to grievance procedures that incorporate due process standards.
Programs or agencies that receive DHHS financial assistance are prohibited from discriminating against persons with HIV by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability. In addition, under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), state and local governments are obligated to ensure their programs and activities are accessible to persons with disabilities. OCR enforces Section 504 and Title II of the ADA.
The Los Angeles County DHS is the second largest health care provider in the United States. It employs over 22,000 people. OCR's San Francisco Regional Office will continue to monitor compliance with this agreement.
Improved Services for Hearing Impaired (Region X)
Two managed care plans in the Pacific Northwest have devised an innovative way to ensure that their hearing- impaired clients have access to quality service. After a review conducted by OCR's Seattle office found that calls on the telephone for hearing-impaired persons (TDD) often went unanswered during busy periods, PacifiCare and Premera Health Plus agreed to revamp their system. With technical assistance from Seattle Regional Office staff, the health maintenance organizations (HMOs) worked with the local telephone company and an interpreter service to set up a new system. TDD calls now are routed to the interpreter service, which can respond to clients in a timely fashion and relay calls to the HMOs and their customer service departments. All of PacifiCare's hearing-impaired customers in Washington and Oregon, and all of Premera's TDD clients in those states plus Alaska, are now served by this system. This is another successful collaborative effort between OCR and recipients to ensure that all clients are served fairly and effectively.
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