Bus Company, ACT UP/Philadelphia Settle Discrimination Complaint
An Exton, Pa.-based charter bus company that agreed to offer a discount to a group of AIDS advocates going to a legislative hearing in Harrisburg, Pa., last summer settled a discrimination complaint with the group on Friday, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 8/2). While transporting the members of the AIDS advocacy group ACT UP/Philadelphia to the hearing, where they were planning to speak against the creation of a state database containing the names of people who test HIV-positive, the driver of the bus pulled over after he learned who his passengers were, according to the AP/Long Island Newsday. The driver refused to continue because he said he "didn't want to catch anything," the AP/Newsday reports. After 90 minutes of negotiations with the driver to continue the trip, the group arrived late in Harrisburg and missed part of the hearing (Caruso, AP/Long Island Newsday, 8/1). Krapf Bus Companies agreed to pay an undisclosed amount to each of the 10 passengers, retrain its staff and post a nondiscrimination policy in each of its buses, according to the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, which filed the complaint in March with the Pennsylvania Commission on Human Relations on behalf of ACT UP. "It's just an unfortunate incident," Krapf attorney Randy Schauer said, adding, "Certainly what the driver did was not the company's policy." AIDS Law Project Executive Director Ronda Goldfein said, "This complaint gave the bus company a chance to look at what this driver did and say, 'That's not us.' And that's what they've done" (AP/Philadephia Inquirer, 8/2). Goldfein said that the passengers are pleased with the settlement (AP/Long Island Newsday, 8/1).
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