Feb 06, 2004  |  By: JOE CREA  | COMMENTS     

In a three-sentence press release, Cirque du Soleil has offered to “re-integrate” an HIV-positive gymnast after federal authorities determined that the Montreal-based circus engaged in discrimination when it fired the performer last March.

The move came shortly after the Los Angeles office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission upheld the complaints of the fired gymnast, Matthew Cusick. Cirque said the matter “will be discussed during the mediation process proposed by the EEOC.”

But Cusick, who lives in Washington, D.C., and his attorney said they are confused by the “offer to reinstate,” because no one from Cirque has so far extended a formal job offer.

“We want to know what he is being offered, if he is being offered anything at this point,” said Hayley Gorenberg, director of Lambda Legal’s AIDS Project and Cusick’s lawyer.

Cusick, 32, expressed excitement over the EEOC ruling, but said he didn’t know how to feel about Cirque’s apparent offer because no one has contacted him.

“They are just making this a media press release and not a ‘let’s let Matthew and his attorney in on this, too,’” Cusick said.

Gorenberg praised the EEOC’s findings that there was evidence of illegal discrimination and said that “Cirque broke the law” when it fired Cusick.

“They put forth the legal backing to allow the employer to understand what they would be facing and one hopes that there is a fair decision that can be reached,” Gorenberg said. “But there are other issues that must be addressed. Mathew wants to see that there are appropriate procedures in place ensuring that this never happens to anyone again. Plus, there is the matter of compensating him for time lost.”

‘He’s done the world a lot of good’
Renée-Claude Ménard, director of public relations for Cirque du Soleil, said that Cirque “had progressed internally on this matter through meetings with medical experts.” She said when the EEOC ruling was issued, Cirque was “pretty far ahead in our thinking,” adding that the ruling came out just as Cirque was feeling “confidant” about rehiring Cusick.

“We are responding quite positively,” Ménard said. “From the last seven months, it has been obvious to us that nobody, including Matthew, or Cirque, has to go through this again. We are listening to experts who have shared with us their findings and we are open to seeing what we can put together, in terms of administrative procedures, so that everyone in the future feels protected.”

Ménard said that Cusick’s compensation would be one of the subjects of the mediation process.

Ménard praised the San Francisco Human Rights Commission for helping to educate Cirque on HIV and AIDS issues. Larry Brinkin, a senior contract compliance officer for the commission, called the experience “very positive.”

Gymnist trong>Matthew Cusick said he is eager to put his discrimination case behind him. (Photo by Michael Wise)

“We had a long conversation with Cirque officials not only about the legal issues and sanctions they could face, but we also talked about HIV transmission and the risks associated with it,” Brinkin said. “We felt they were overstating the risks immensely and we pointed out to them that, in fact, in the sports world, there has never been a known case of transmission, and acrobatics is an athletic activity.”

Brinkin also praised Cusick for bringing the issue to the table.

“What he did showed courage, foresight and smarts, and I think he’s done the world a lot of good.”

Cusick was fired in March 2003. He was set to begin performing in Cirque’s Las Vegas show, “Mystere,” and had been training and performing for the role for months.

Cusick filed the complaint with the EEOC on July 15. In the complaint, Cusick noted that he had disclosed his HIV status to the company months before he was terminated and was cleared twice by the company’s doctors as a healthy athlete capable of performance.

The Canada-based circus currently operates eight shows in North America, Europe and Asia, which are seen by about 7 million people each year. “Mystere,” the show for which Cusick was hired, is currently being performed at Treasure Island in Las Vegas.

Cusick said he is eager to put the episode behind him.

“It still mentally hurts me,” Cusick said. “I do think about it every day and not just once a day. And it hurts me to know that they supposedly are welcoming me with open arms after shunning me. They threw me in the trash can and now they want to dust me off.”