SearchNational HIV/AIDS Legal Services
About the Project | How to Get Help | Publications | Accomplishments
NATIONAL ANTI-DISCRIMINATION PROJECT
Fighting Discrimination Against People in Recovery and People with HIV
The Legal Action Center (LAC) is dedicated to helping people who face discrimination based on their HIV/AIDS status or history of alcohol or drug dependence. Through the National Anti-Discrimination Project, LAC lawyers provide legal advice and assistance to clients around the country, make available back-up assistance to other lawyers fighting discrimination on behalf of these groups, and fight any proposals in Congress that would strip individuals with HIV/AIDS or those in recovery of hard-won civil rights.
How to Get Help
If your legal problem is not in New York State:
Call the Legal Action Center at (212) 243-1313, Monday to Friday, from 1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. (E.S.T.), and ask to speak with the “attorney on call.”
For those in New York State:
Visit the NY HIV/AIDS Legal Services section of this web site. You can also visit NY Alcohol and Drug Legal Services or NY Criminal Justice Legal Services.
THE CENTER WILL NOT RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR ASSISTANCE SENT TO THE LEGAL ACTION CENTER'S E-MAIL ADDRESS OR WEBSITE.
Free Publications Available
The Center has written a number of user-friendly publications for individuals and service providers, which explain anti-discrimination laws and privacy laws that protect individuals with criminal records, alcohol/drug histories, and/or HIV/AIDS. To download these and other Legal Action Center publications, visit the Free Publications section of this website.
The Center also has produced a free webinars series called Know Your Rights: Anti-Discrimination Laws Protecting People with Alcohol and Drug Problems and Criminal Records. To watch any of the webinars at any time, visit the Webinar Archive.
For information on the publications, videos, DVDs and online courseware that the Center sells, visit the Online Store.
Accomplishments
- Convinced Girl Scouts to revise their policies and institute education to ensure no girl be denied admission because of her HIV status. (Donovan v. Girl Scouts-USA and Adirondack Girl Scouts Council).
- Won a series of lawsuits challenging breaches of confidentiality under New York State’s HIV confidentiality law.
- Made presentations at conferences and provided assistance to attorneys around the country on legal protections against discrimination for people with HIV/AIDS.
- American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). In consultation with Congressional sponsors and advocates for people with histories of drug or alcohol problems and those with HIV/AIDS, LAC helped draft key provisions of this federal anti-discrimination law that extended its protections to individuals in recovery or being treated for addiction and to people affected by HIV.