A woman with HIV filed a complaint with the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice against Genesis Healthcare Systems, alleging that she was discriminated against based on her disability and denied access to health care, in violation of Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Specifically, she alleged that in April 2013 one of Genesis’s primary care physicians refused to accept her as a new patient because of her HIV, even though she was only seeking general medical care unrelated to HIV. As a result, she had to go to the local emergency room for non-emergency health issues.

Following an investigation, the Department of Justice found that Genesis had discriminated against the woman because of her HIV. In addition, the investigation revealed that it was this physician’s practice to refer any patients with HIV to an HIV specialist, even when the patient simply sought general medical care.

On January 15, 2015, the Department of Justice and Genesis reached a settlement agreement. Under the settlement, Genesis agreed to pay $25,000 in damages to the complainant and a $9,000 civil penalty. Genesis also was required to train its staff on the ADA, develop and implement non-discrimination policies, and report to the department every time a person with HIV was not accepted as a patient or discharged from treatment. In the report, Genesis was required to provide a written justification for the decision to deny care to a patient with HIV. The settlement agreement was to remain in effect for three years until January 15, 2018.

This settlement agreement was part of the DOJ's Barrier-Free Health Care Initiative, a partnership of the Civil Rights Division and U.S. Attorney’s offices to target enforcement efforts on access to health care.

We have no information to indicate that there were any further reported issues, so we assume the case is closed.

Emily Kempa - 08/03/2019


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