Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal

, Volume 2, Issue 4, pp 239–253 | Cite as

AIDS in the workplace: Options and responsibilities

  • Al Gini
Articles
  • 36 Downloads

Abstract

Scientists now believe that no one is safe from AIDS. AIDS is no longer “the disease” of a small fringe segment of society. It is now a disease that can touch us in our personal, family, and professional lives. AIDS is, as columnist Ellen Goodman has suggested, an “equal opportunity infector” that does not discriminate on the basis of race, age, sex, or sexual orientation. Although statistics indicate that most of us will probably not experience AIDS in our private or family lives, a significant number of us will be forced to grapple with AIDS in the workplace. This article is an attempt to examine the business community's response to AIDS, and the possible options and strategies that larger corporations especially might use in responding to the medical, legal, and ethical dimensions of the disease. According to Nancy L. Merritt, vice-president and director of equal opportunity for Bank of America, AIDS raises at least three fundamental issues in the workplace: How do you handle an employee with AIDS? How do you educate and ensure the safety and morale of your other employees? How do you balance the needs of business with the human, ethical considerations raised by the disease? Such questions, Merritt maintains, will become more and more pressing as the AIDS epidemic continues to spread.

Key Words

AIDS and work AIDS workplace issues AIDS workplace policies employees and AIDS 
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Copyright information

© Plenum Publishing Corporation 1989

Authors and Affiliations

  • Al Gini
    • 1
  1. 1.Loyola University of ChicagoChicago

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