WEST VIRGINIA RECORD

CHARLES TOWN – After unsuccessful mediation, the lawsuit of a woman who says she was fired from her surgical technician job because she has HIV has been set for a July trial.

On March 25, mediator Oscar M. Bean filed a report that said the case, filed by Donna Locascio in March 2012, should proceed in its normal course. Two weeks later, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge David Sanders scheduled a July 9 trial.

“At the time the plaintiff was discharged, she was able and competent, with or without reasonable accommodation, to perform the essential functions of her job,” Locascio’s complaint says.

Locascio, of Charles Town, was hired as a surgical technician at Jefferson Memorial Hospital, with her employment beginning Sept. 11, 2006.

That month, she was diagnosed with HIV and told her supervisor Lisa Avey, who “appeared visibly uncomfortable and physically backed away,” the complaint says.

Locascio went on medical leave until April 5, 2011, and was treated in a hostile manner by Avey when she returned, the complaint says.

In August 2011, Locascio was informed that she cursed in front of a patient and contaminated the surgical field while working and was fired, the complaint says. Locascio alleges those claims are false.

The complaint says she is disabled and was discriminated against because of her HIV. Her attorney is Harry P. Waddell.

Avey and Charles Town General Hospital are also defendants.

From the West Virginia Record: Reach John O’Brien at jobrienwv@gmail.com.