Can’t fire HIV-positive naval seamen, federal Court of Canada warns. After enlisting with the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in 1980, Simon Thwaites spent six years progressing to the rank of master seaman, where he spent most of his time on naval vessels. The same year, the Canadian Red Cross informed him he was HIV positive. He voluntarily told the CAF, but when staff there learned he was homosexual, they downgraded his security clearance to a level that made it impossible to do his job. Forced to accept menial work on shore, he found himself issued an honourable discharge in November 1989. The CAF argued that any other postings lacked the ready access to medical facilities his condition required. Thwaites took his case to the federal Human Rights Tribunal, which ruled that the CAF had discriminated against him based on his disability. He was awarded $147,015 for past and future loss of wages, $5,000 for special compensation, plus interest and costs. The CAF appealed in federal court, which upheld the ruling in favour of Thwaites on March 25, 1994. The court found that HIV was not a legitimate reason to be discharged, and that Thwaites should have been given a legitimate assessment of his ability to do his job.
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