A student with HIV expelled from the National Defense University is barred from returning to the institution and was ordered to pay NT$800,000 (US$25,302) in “compensation,” despite a Centers for Disease Control (CDC) request that the university be fined NT$1 million for discrimination against people with HIV, sources said.
A-li (a pseudonym) was allegedly expelled by the university after testing positive for HIV.
If the Ministry of Health and Welfare approves the CDC’s request, it would be the first time a government institution is fined for discrimination against someone with HIV and would be the largest fine ever levied for such an offense.
However, the university denied the charge and demanded that A-li pay compensation for his enrollment on government subsidies.
“The student was expelled due to his conduct, not because he has HIV,” Chen Yi-ming (陳毅銘), chief of education at the university’s Political Warfare Cadres Academy, said on Tuesday.
A-li was on Sept. 21, 2012, caught using an unauthorized laptop, Chen said.
When ordered to surrender the computer for inspection, A-li gave university staff a different computer in the dorm room in an attempt to deceive them, Chen said.
A-li demonstrated “a very poor attitude” in subsequent investigations and the university’s disciplinary committee punished A-li with two demerits and two reprimands, Chen said.
Citing university regulations, Chen said that students who have been expelled are required to reimburse the university for any government-subsidized tuition within one month of receiving notice of expulsion, or to apply for payment through installments within three months.
After both deadlines lapsed, the university initiated administrative litigation against A-li, with the Kaohsiung High Administrative Court ruling in the institution’s favor, Chen said.
Asked for comment, Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Tzou-yien (林奏延) said he had twice spoken with Minister of National Defense Kao Kuang-chi (高廣圻) by telephone to discuss the matter, adding that their ministries had reached a consensus on how to handle the case.
“A-li is young. I hope that the Ministry of National Defense will think hard about what would be the best thing to do for him,” Lin said.
Lin, a former practicing physician and epidemiologist, said that HIV infections, when effectively treated and controlled with modern medication, are just like chronic hepatitis, and that people with HIV have a normal life expectancy.
“The public needs to change its views on people with HIV,” he said.
Ministry of Education Secretary-General Chen Hsueh-yu (陳雪玉) said the education ministry cannot comment on individual cases, but added that, in general, the law protects the right to education of people with HIV and schools cannot expel or transfer students for having HIV.
According to the Chinese-language United Daily News, a member of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Committee for AIDS Prevention and Treatment and the Protection of the Rights of HIV Infected Persons accused the university of making dishonest statements about its role in A-li’s expulsion.
Committee member Yang Hsiu-yi (楊秀儀), who has HIV, told the United Daily News that “the university had repeatedly claimed that it was just protecting students, but the actual circumstances clearly showed that A-li was discriminated against by the institution.”
Yang said that while the university claimed to have expelled A-li for his conduct, arguing with instructors and using an unauthorized laptop, other students who have been caught using private laptops without permission have not been expelled.
“The university singling out a student with HIV for punishment while forgiving other students for the same offense has a discriminatory subtext,” Yang was quoted as saying.
The university had told A-li not to attend swimming classes and separated his cafeteria plates and laundry from that of other students, Yang said, adding that such actions were “blatantly discriminatory.”
The university acted against the committee’s recommendations by demanding that A-li pay compensation, Yang said, describing the institution’s behavior as “vicious.”
“We should not tolerate institutional discrimination in the government, and I hope the National Defense University will make a good-faith effort to handle the situation,” she said.
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