Manager with HIV Wins $5 Million in Lawsuit Against McDonald's

A jury in Cleveland has awarded a former McDonald's restaurant manager $5 million based on his claims that the company discriminated against him because he has HIV. The jury in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court deliberated less than three hours Friday before ruling in favor of Russell Rich at the end of the nine-day trial. Rich sued McDonald's Corp. claiming discrimination on the basis of the illness after he was forced to resign his job in October 1997. "This case is about prejudice. Prejudice in the workplace is unacceptable as a condition of employment," said Paige A. Martin, the Columbus attorney who represented Rich. Lisa Howard, spokesperson for McDonald's, said Sunday the company is considering appealing the decision.

Rich, 37, of the Akron suburb Fairlawn, worked for 20 years at McDonald's franchise restaurants. The company hired him in July 1997 to manage a corporate-owned store. Two weeks later, Rich was hospitalized for an AIDS-related illness. McDonald's said he could continue to work only if the company could review his medical records. He agreed. After that, Rich said his supervisors refused to let him do his management duties, improperly disciplined him for job abandonment and scheduled him to work unreasonably long hours. He said that when he tried to complain about the hostile work environment to a McDonald's operations manager, he was told to take a two-week, unpaid leave of absence because the manager did not have time to listen to his complaints. Rich became ill, but when he notified McDonald's he wanted to return to work, he was told he was being transferred to another restaurant. There he could co-manage the store at a manager's salary but his duties would be limited "for the rest of his career" to selling hamburgers at the front counter, Martin said. Rich, who filed his discrimination case in October 1998, has "suffered greatly over the years," Martin said.

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