Jones v. Diamontoni, Complaint, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania and Berger & Montague, P.C. (2014)

This complaint was filed in December 2014 on behalf of a husband and wife – referred to by the pseudonym “Jones” – and their daughter, against Stephen G. Diamontoni, MD and Associates Family Practice, Dr. Jeffrey T. Trost, and Dr. William R. Vollmar, charging discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

According to the complaint, the husband has been living with HIV since 1992, he has been consistent with his treatment. The wife and daughter are not HIV positive. The family moved to eastern Pennsylvania in 2014, and upon recommendation arranged for medical care at Diamontoni and Associates Family Practice, including transferring medical records from a previous physician.

The husband had appointments with Dr. Trost in June, July and August 2014. In October, for the first time, blood was drawn at the Diamontoni and Associates Family Practice facility. Upon returning four days later, the husband was given a letter claiming that he had “left a large amount of blood all over the sink, walls and floor” of a restroom at the medical office, telling him he and his entire family could no longer receive their medical care at Diamontoni and Associates Family Practice, and giving the entire family 30 days to find a new physician.

The complaint says the allegation that the husband left blood in the restroom is false and the only reason for husband and his family being denied medical care was the husband’s HIV status, a covered disability under the ADA. Denial of services based on a disability – or by association with a person with a disability – are violations of the ADA.

The lawsuit seeks declaratory judgment that the denial of service was unlawful discrimination under the ADA, the cessation of discrimination by the medical practice, implantation of a nondiscrimination policy, training in HIV transmission and precautions for medical staff, and compensatory, actual and punitive damages in amounts to be determined at trial.