Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1985. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Miami Herald - Thursday, June 20, 1985
Christine Evans, Herald Staff Writer
A bill signed May 30 by Gov. Bob Graham makes it illegal for employers to use the test as a criterion for hiring or firing.
Unanimously and without discussion, the City Commission hired Serrano Medical Associates of Fort Lauderdale to administer pre-employment physical examinations. But commissioners didn't realize that those tests included screening for AIDS -- Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, a lethal disease that breaks down the bodies immunities.
"I didn't know anything about it," Mayor David Keating said after the meeting. "I'm sure the others didn't either."
City Personnel Director Herbert Chernov Wednesday said he had referred the matter to the city's legal department.
Gay rights leaders say Hollywood is the first city in the nation to arrange for the tests.
"This Hollywood scenario is exactly the very worst we had feared," said Nancy Langer of the LAMBDA Legal Defense and Education Fund in New York, the country's largest and oldest gay legal institution.
Before the new state law took effect, Hollywood officials advertised for a firm that could conduct the tests for HTLV-III antibodies, which indicate a patient has been exposed to a virus doctors believe causes AIDS.
City officials believed such tests would protect its employees and help keep premiums for health insurance low, Chernov said.
Members of Miami's gay community told Chernov last week that the tests were illegal. Until then, Chernov said he was unaware of the new state law.
Such tests are highly undependable as a diagnostic tool, the federal Food and Drug Administration has ruled.
"This is the second time in recent months that Broward County has figured prominently in a national legal debate (surrounding) AIDS," LAMBDA's Langer said.
Todd Shuttleworth, a junior budget analyst for Broward County, lost his job last September after acknowledging he had AIDS.
County officials dismissed him on the grounds that he posed a health threat to co-workers. The action -- touched off a national debate on the rights of AIDS victims and the fairness of the county policy that forced his firing.
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Copyright © 1985 - Miami Herald. All rights reserved. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Miami Herald, Permissions, One Herald Plaza, Miami, FL 33132-1693 TEL: (305) 376-3719. http://www.herald.com.
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