Teacher’s AIDS Sets Off Parents’ Concern

Concerned parents contacted officials at two Irvine schools Friday as word spread that an AIDS-infected teacher has sued to keep his job teaching handicapped students.

The teacher’s lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, is the second to be brought over whether the unnamed man has a right to continue teaching even though he is suffering from acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

Thursday, the Orange County Department of Education also filed a complaint, in Orange County Superior Court. The department’s lawsuit seeks judicial advice on how to deal with the teacher.

The 42-year-old instructor, identified only as “John Doe,” teaches hearing-impaired children and is one of about 200 teachers on the education department’s payroll.

Released by Doctors

The teacher had no idea he was infected with AIDS until February, when he was stricken with pneumocystis pneumonia, an infection common to AIDS patients, according to his attorney, Marjorie Rushforth. The man, who is a homosexual, according to Rushforth, was released by doctors to return to work April 20.

By early June, however, the county department had discovered his illness. Five days before he was to return to work, Dick Nagle, the department’s director of personnel services, called and demanded information from the teacher’s doctor, according to the suit filed Thursday.

Eventually, the lawsuit states, his “physician felt the additional request was out of line and refused to provide” further answers.

Discussions between the two sides broke down after the county education department first offered him a job in the office, then suggested that he write the department’s applications for educational grants at his home.

“It was an insult. There’s no legal ground to make him sit in a cubbyhole, shut away from everyone, as though he’s not fit to be around the rest of society,” said Rushforth, whose costs are being funded by the American Civil Liberties Union.

The teacher offered to stay home and collect his salary without working, but that was unacceptable to the department. By Thursday, both sides were in court.

Rushforth said the man, who lives in Long Beach with his lover, is taking the drug AZT and is physically well. “He’s bored, frustrated, and a fabulous teacher. He wants to go back to work,” Rushforth said.

Wants to Teach

In an interview with reporters Thursday, the man said that he believes he should teach as long as he is able and that he wants parents to know he cannot infect their children.

He has worked for the department six years. For the past year, he worked at Venado Middle School and University High School.

The teacher’s suit contends that the department violated federal and state laws protecting the handicapped from job discrimination. “It’s a flat-out, clear, hands-down winner of violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973,” Rushforth said.

The defendants are the county Department of Education and Superintendent Robert Peterson.

Ronald D. Wenkart, attorney for the county education department, has said one concern of the department is that a teacher with AIDS may inadvertently spread other diseases that can be caught by casual contact. “An AIDS victim is subject to many other opportunistic infections,” Wenkart said.

However, several legal experts contacted by The Times on Friday said the teacher’s federal suit may prove difficult for the education department.

Cites Federal Law

“As long as some federal money is being used to run the school district, it would be covered under (federal law) that makes it unlawful for the recipient to discriminate against an otherwise qualified, handicapped individual,” said Arthur S. Leonard, a professor of labor law at New York Law School.

Officials with the Irvine Unified School District, meanwhile, fielded several inquiries from worried parents. “I can’t speak for the board, but I’ll bet they feel a lot like I do,” said Jerry Rawl, interim superintendent.

“From what I’ve heard and read, this person will not do any harm performing normal teaching functions.”

At the two schools most directly affected--Venado Middle School and University High School--there was confusion as parents tried to call officials.

“I haven’t really had any time to think” about what, if anything, University High School will do, said Robert Bruce, principal of Irvine High School. Bruce said he had tried all day Friday to determine the teacher’s identity.

At Venado Middle School, a woman who identified herself as part of the cleaning staff said that 20-25 calls came in Thursday from people wanting more information.

“I guess we’re all leery about something we don’t know about, especially where our kids are concerned,” the woman said. She said no one else was at the school’s offices Thursday.

Carole Sokolov of Irvine, a mother of four who heads University’s Academic Booster Club, said:

“I definitely do not have a problem with it intellectually. I wouldn’t think twice about sending my kids to school. But it probably would be lurking in my gut what if they find something . . . 20 years from now. These are my kids I’m talking about.”