Cirque du Soleil offers to rehire acrobat fired over having HIV
This is a major victory. Cirque du Soleil fired an acrobat after learning he was HIV positive. Activists, including ANSWER LA, mobilized nationwide and put pressure on them. Now, the comapny has done a 180 and will rehire him.
Cirque du Soleil will offer to rehire an acrobat fired by the Montreal-The circus also plans to draft an anti-discrimination policy with help from the San Francisco Human Rights Commission that protects the rights of all qualified HIV-positive athletes to perform, company and commission officials said Friday.
Cirque spokeswoman said Friday that the firm had all but changed its position before the panel issued its determination when extensive research assured the circus that the risks of HIV transmission during an accident were infinitesimal.
Several company vice presidents and a Cirque attorney met for three hours with commission negotiators last month. “We tried to tell them that their understanding of the risk was simply incorrect,” said Brinkin, whose staff gathered medical information on behalf of the circus. “They were very interested…. I could see minds being changed as I spoke.”