FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1995                        (202) 616-2765
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
     
       JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SUES MOVING COMPANY FOR REFUSING
            SERVICE TO NEIGHBORS OF A PERSON WITH AIDS


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Justice Department today sued an
Illinois-based moving company that allegedly refused to provide
moving services in Philadelphia to two former residents because a
neighbor, who was present at the moving site, was infected with
the AIDS virus.
     The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Philadelphia,
alleged that in July 1994, the Bekins Van Lines Company of
Hillside, Illinois, and Schloer Enterprises, its local agent in
Philadelphia, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
by refusing service to two individuals who were moving from
Philadelphia to Scottsdale, Arizona.
     Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Deval L. Patrick
said that a Bekins crew arrived at the home of David Homan and
began to assess the property to be moved.  When the company
employees encountered a neighbor whom they believed had AIDS,
they refused to load any of the belongings.
     "Denying someone service because they or their neighbor has
AIDS defies both logic and the law," said Patrick.  
     Title III of the ADA prohibits public accommodations, such
as moving companies, from discriminating against persons who have
an association with individuals with disabilities.  Testing
positive for HIV or having AIDS is considered a disability under
the ADA.
     The Justice Department began an investigation after
receiving a complaint from another individual present during the
incident who was denied service.  The Department filed the suit
only after the defendants refused to cooperate with the
investigation and rejected efforts to settle the matter out of court.
     The suit seeks a court order prohibiting Bekins from
discriminating against persons with disabilities or their
associates.  The suit also seeks penalties, and damages for the
residents and their neighbor.
     Last year the Justice Department reached an ADA settlement
with the Philadelphia Emergency Medical Services after they
refused services to an injured individual with AIDS.  The
Department also reached settlements with dentists in Houston, New
Orleans, and Connecticut who refused to treat patients who were
HIV positive or had AIDS.
     According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC), AIDS can only be transmitted by sexual contact with an
infected individual, exposure to infected blood or blood
products, and from an infected mother to her infant.  There is no
evidence that AIDS can be transmitted through casual contact.
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