DoD settles in lawsuit challenging HIV policy
Former Navy Midshipman Kevin Deese Lambda Legal and co-counsel Winston & Strawn LLP, Perkowski Legal, PC, and Scott Schoettes announced this week that they have reached a settlement with the Department of Defense in a lawsuit filed in 2018 on behalf of former Navy midshipman Kevin Deese, and former Air Force cadet John Doe (a pseudonym), who were denied commissions after graduating from their respective service academies because they are living with HIV.
The settlement provides for Deese and Doe to be commissioned as officers in recognition of the status and military careers they qualified for and earned years ago, a Lambda Legal press release said.
Kara Ingelhart, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, said, “We are gratified that our clients, who were denied officer commissions they had earned because of the U.S.
military’s discriminatory policy of withholding career advancement opportunities from HIV-positive service members, will now be able to achieve their goals. “Service members living with HIV, once affected by an outdated, discriminatory policy, no longer face discharge, bans on commissioning, or bans on deployment simply because they are living with HIV,” Inglehart added.
