Court Stops USAF from Discharging HIV+ Servicemembers

" …  Roe, Voe, and the four identified members of OutServe wish to continue to serve their country. Their doctors and their commanding officers support their retention. But the Air Force, without individually considering each servicemember’s condition, fitness, and deployability, assumed the servicemembers could not deploy to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility because they are HIV-positive. The Government’s explanations for why it has imposed an effective ban on deploying HIV-positive servicemembers to CENTCOM’s area of responsibility are at odds with modern science. These servicemembers, like other HIV-positive individuals with undetectable viral loads, have no symptoms of HIV. They take daily medication—usually one pill, for some people two—and need a regular, but routine blood test. They cannot transmit the virus through normal daily activities, and their risk of transmitting the virus through battlefield exposure, if the virus can be transmitted at all, is extremely low. Although transmission through blood transfusion is possible, these servicemembers have been ordered not to donate blood. But the Government did not consider these realities when discharging these servicemembers, instead relying on assumptions and categorical determinations. As a result, the Air Force denied these servicemembers an individualized determination of their fitness for military service.

Plaintiffs have demonstrated a likelihood of success of the merits of at least one claim and have made a clear showing of irreparable harm in the absence of a preliminary injunction. The equities and public interest weigh in the Plaintiffs’ favor, and the district court did not abuse its discretion in crafting the preliminary injunction. Accordingly, we affirm the order of the district court. "

United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (Richard Roe v. DOD), Judge James A. Wynn Jr., January 10/14, 2020.
 

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