The New York Times - October 22, 1986

The technicians said they were refusing to work as a protest of how the company was handling the return of the 31-year-old AIDS victim, Paul F. Cronan.

Mr. Cronan, a 12-year employee of the company, filed a $1.75 million lawsuit in State Superior Court last December. He charged that the company had discriminated against him based on a handicap, the acquired immune deficiency syndrome; had breached his right to privacy and had coerced him not to return to work.

This morning workers asked the company if they could minimize contact with Mr. Cronan by getting their daily assignments in a parking lot rather than inside a building. When the company refused to change procedure, 29 out of 39 regular technicians refused to enter the building.

The cause of AIDS, a mysterious fatal disorder that destroys the body's ability to fight infection, is not known. However, it is thought to be transmitted through sexual contact or the transfer of bodily fluids, not casual contact. Shop Steward Describes Fears

Today, George F. Moore, a shop steward for Local 2222 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, said: "There's an epidemic of fear here. People are under incredible stress. A grown man was crying this morning because he feared giving AIDS to his invalid father or losing his job."

He said the workers wanted "the company to use more of its resources to bring in experts to help them deal with the terror."

"This is a human issue, not a labor-management dispute," he said. "We support Paul as an individual and are optimistic that there is a way to make his environment positive and dignified. But we need the company to show genuine concern for all the workers and to meet us halfway."

The company is holding talks with the union's district representatives, said Ellen M. Boyd, a spokesman for New England Telephone. "We hope the workers will come back," she said. "No disciplinary action has yet been decided upon, but they certainly will not be paid for time not worked."

The district representative declined to comment.

Case Seen as Important One

The financial terms of the Cronan settlement have not been disclosed, but attorneys for AIDS victims say rulings made by the state and Federal courts in this case could set major precedents.

Last January the telephone company asked a Federal court to take the Cronan case under the purview of Federal Labor Relations Act. Federal District Judge Walter Jay Skinner sent the case back to state court, ruling that state laws on discrimination and privacy pre-empt Federal labor law or union agreements.

This ruling enabled Mr. Cronan to bring a civil suit and ask for $1.45 million in compensatory damages. Had he been limited to filing a union grievance, he could only have asked for reinstatement and back pay, said his attorney, David C. Casey.

Also, in August, State Judge Barbara J. Rouse ruled that state law against discrimination protects AIDS victims at work, although guidelines issued by the Federal Justice Department last June say employers, particularly Federal agencies, may bar AIDS victims from work if co-workers fear contamination, even if the fear is unfounded.

Nan D. Hunter, a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union in New York, who monitors AIDS cases nationwide, said. "In terms of employment discrimination, this is the first time that a state court has ruled that AIDS is a disability under state handicapped discrimination law."

As Mr. Cronan was pulling his truck out of the New England Telephone Company garage today, he said: "This is a victory for me and other AIDS victims. I'm so excited I may have to pull over later for a good cry."

Fears of his co-workers, he said, are understandable. but, he added that at work "there was medical literature about AIDS that had been written over by hand and tacked up to the wall."

"It said, 'Gays and bisexuals should be shipped to an island and destroyed,' " he said. "It's bad enough I have a disease that'll probably kill me. Now I have to deal with insults."

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