Joslyn Joseph revealed her HIV status to her employers - and two months later she was fired. Now she has challenged her dismissal with the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
Joseph has been living with the virus for the past 11 years, after discovering she was HIV-positive when she was 21.
Callforce Direct, a call centre employment agency, placed her at First National Bank Homeloans in May 2004.
Her nightmare began in December, when she fell ill.
| 'I told him I had to make a life-threatening decision - I thought death was at my door' |
Joseph's CD4 count was very low and she decided to disclose her HIV status to her boss at FNB.
"I went up to my boss and told him I was not feeling good. I told him my blood level had dropped to the lowest in my entire history of HIV and Aids.
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"I told him I had to make a life-threatening decision. I thought death was at my door.
"I was preparing for my grave," Joseph said. After revealing her HIV status, her boss was sympathetic and gave her a week off to have more tests done in hospital.
After a week she returned to work as she was feeling better.
| 'I was sick for only one day, yet I was fired' |
"I was losing weight every day. It was the first time in 10 years that I thought I was dying. You become very nervous when you think about death. I had to make all sorts of decisions. Now that I have been there, I know what to do," she said.
In February, Joseph got sick again - for one day - but when she returned to work with a doctor's note, she was fired by the agency for "poor attendance" and "poor performance standards in respect of key performance areas".
"I was sick for only one day, yet I was fired. I am upset that they have robbed me of the opportunity of living a normal life. Because I have disclosed my status, they now think I am incapable.
"How convenient. When I was working late before I revealed my HIV status, they did not think I was incapable," Joseph said, wiping away tears.
Since then she has been battling to make ends meet. Joseph needs money to buy immune boosters for herself and her HIV-positive 11-year-old daughter. She also needs money to buy nutritional supplements.
"They don't know how this has impacted on us. There is no money to buy our immune boosters. Sometimes we do not have anything to eat. Thank God I have a supportive husband," Joseph said.
Asked if she regretted revealing she was HIV-positive, Joseph said: "It has caused me heartache, but I still think I had to be honest with my employers.
I don't understand why people discriminate against you and push you away, because this is something that can be controlled. I am in control of this. I am helping myself.
"I want compensation and my job back. They decided to get rid of me without giving it a second thought. Why did they not give me a warning? Do you disclose your status to your boss, only to have that information used against you? Where is the support?
"Aren't we moving towards a society where we are open about this?" Joseph asked angrily.
Soon after her dismissal, she lodged a complaint with the CCMA. The hearing is to be held next week. Joseph's former manager at First National Bank, Craig Symes, said she had not been contracted to FNB.
"She was never employed by FNB. I definitely don't know why her contract was terminated," Symes said.
Callforce Direct director Peter Molotsi said: "Joseph was not dismissed by us. She was removed from that assignment because of incapacity and poor performance. That is what our client FNB told us.
"We have contacted her. There is a meeting scheduled for Thursday. It is our duty as the agency to place people in rightful employment. We do not want their contracts to be terminated with matters that are not necessary. We will come up with an amicable solution," Molotsi said.
Gauteng Treatment Action Campaign spokesperson Luyanda Ngonyama condemned Joseph's dismissal, saying it was "clear discrimination".
"People will keep quiet because they know they face dismissal if they reveal their status," Ngonyama said.
SA Human Rights Commission spokesperson Nazma Dreyer urged Joseph to lodge a complaint with the SAHRC.
- This article was originally published on page 3 of The Star on April 06, 2005
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