Months after his death, AIDS victim wins settlement from gym

To some people, a gym is just a place to work out. To Irving Silverman, the gym was a necessity. Silverman, who died of AIDS last December, relied on the 12th Street Gym for both his mental and physical well-being, his sister, Kim Silverman said. But in March 1994, Silverman was barred from his gym when the owner discovered that he was infected with the AIDS virus, Pennsylvania AIDS Law Project attorney Ronda Goldfein has alleged. Yesterday, Goldfein announced that a lawsuit filed by Silverman last August against the gym had been settled. She said the gym will pay $35,000 to Silverman's estate and adopt a non-discrimination policy and workplace training program -- which both sides say could become a model for gyms and health clubs across the country. "Our happiness in announcing this settlement is tainted with sadness," Goldfein said. "While today's settlement is a victory for people with HIV and AIDS, we are saddened by the fact that Irv is not here to announce the settlement himself." Rick Piper, a managing partner of the 12th Street Gym, agreed. "We're delighted by the settlement," he said. "We've learned a lot from the case." Piper added that defending against the suit would have cost more than $100,000 and that the new 14-page non-discrimination policy will best benefit the community served by the gym. But Bob Schoenberg, director of the Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Community at Penn, was skeptical. "While the settlement is an indication of acknowledgement of wrongdoing, they are not adding anything that isn't already in the City of Philadelphia's Fair Practices Ordinance," he said. The suit alleged that Silverman was thrown out of the gym by its owner Robert Gazardi, after Silverman cut his hand and requested a bandage. Gazardi, who knew Silverman had AIDS, allegedly instructed Silverman to leave and told him not to return. Gazardi was unavailable for comment. Goldfein said Silverman's rights had been violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits public accommodations from discriminating on the basis of disability, including AIDS. "The intention of the act was to get disabled people back into the workplace," Goldfein said. The suit also alleged that Silverman lost the will to fight the disease as a result of Gazardi's actions. "When you deal with someone who is HIV-positive, you encounter several incidents, but the pain of discrimination was something we weren't prepared for," Kim Silverman said. "When this man treated him this way, it just blew his whole world apart." Deb Dunbar, the study coordinator of the AIDS Clinical Trials Unit at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, said the risk posed by someone with AIDS in a gym environment is minimal. "I would say that a person with AIDS who is working out at a gym does not pose a risk to other gym members," she said. "If the person is responsible, there is virtually no chance of contaminating others." Art Gravina, the vice president of facilities management, said that although such a case has not occurred at the University, Hutchinson and Gimbel gyms do have a firm policy of non-discrimination. "It's my understanding that that person would not be thrown out of the gym," he said.

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