Being HIV-positive will no longer automatically disqualify police candidates in Tennessee city

By TRAVIS LOLLER
Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Tennessee city has agreed to update its civil service policies so that having HIV will no longer automatically disqualify someone from serving as a police officer or first responder. A former Memphis officer of the year sued the city of Nashville last year. Using the pseudonym John Doe, he claimed Nashville police discriminated against him in 2020 when they rescinded a job offer upon learning that he had HIV. That was despite a note from his doctor saying he posed no danger to others because he suppressed the virus with medication. In the Friday settlement, Nashville agreed to pay Doe $145,000 and to rewrite its civil service medical examiner’s policies.