Legal Action Center Wins Major HIV Discrimination Case Against Day Camp

The Legal Action Center won a major victory when the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that the Rockland County, New York-based Deer Mountain Day Camp violated federal and state anti-discrimination law by excluding a 10-year-old boy from its one-week basketball program because he is HIV positive.  The case, decided January on 13, 2010, is the first in the country to address the issue of HIV-positive children in camp and one of just a handful to address the participation of HIV-positive children in extra-curricular activities.  

In its decision granting summary judgment to the plaintiff, the court rejected the Deer Mountain Day Camp's defense that its decision was justified because the plaintiff, "Adam Doe," might transmit HIV through the camp toilets or pool or through playing basketball.  The camp "provided the court with no objective, medical evidence to support their threat determination," the court said.  The court also rejected the camp's argument that its decision to deny Adam admission was based on reasons other than Adam's HIV status.  According to the court, every reason the camp offered, such as concerns about the side effects of his medications, was intrinsically related to Adam's HIV status.

The boy's mother, "Jane Doe," reacted to the ruling by saying:  "I am really happy and hope that this will prevent other people from having to go through what we went through.  My son was just a little kid who wanted to have fun.  But when he found out that the camp turned him away because of his HIV status, he asked ‘is this how it's going to be, Mom?'  This was the first time he faced discrimination.  Since then, he has not wanted anyone to know his HIV status.  Now maybe he'll have hope."  Adam Doe himself was happy to see that "the law works for kids."

This decision makes it clear that camps and other extra-curricular programs may not exclude HIV-positive children because of outmoded and unfounded fears about transmission.  The court emphasized that anti-discrimination laws require decisions to be based on objective medical evidence, not myth and stereotype.  Indeed, public health authorities have called upon camps and other extra-curricular programs to use universal precautions and assume that any child or staff member might have a blood-borne disease such as HIV as hepatitis.

The case was originally brought by the Legal Action Center and the Legal Aid Society of Rockland County.  After discovery, the international law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton joined as pro bono counsel to help prepare and defend cross motions for summary judgment.  The Center is deeply grateful to Cleary Gottlieb for its generous support. 

Please click here to download and read the decision.