Kenya's High Court recently ruled against an employer for unlawfully firing an HIV-positive woman because of her serostatus, the court's first-ever such decision. The HIV-positive waitress said she went to the Metropolitan Hospital for chest pains and rashes, but a doctor there tested her for HIV without her consent. In addition, she said, the doctor disclosed the results to her employer, Home Park Caterers, without her consent. The court ruled that testing employees or prospective employees for HIV without consent was an illegal invasion of privacy, and that disclosing an employee's HIV results to an employer was also unlawful. The woman had worked at the catering service for eight years before being dismissed on medical grounds as being unable to perform her duties. HPC denied asking for an HIV test or knowing about her infection when she was fired. None of the defendants admitted liability in the case. The woman was awarded $35,000.

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