Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court upholds Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission's determination that a personal care facility discharged patient because she had HIV and awarded counsel fees for a frivolous appeal.

The Commonwealth Court reviewed a decision from the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, which found that the personal care facility violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act by denying a resident a place in the facility because she had HIV. Specifically, the patient was transferred to the facility, and the prior facility did not disclose that the patient had HIV and also did not disclose the patient's incontinence problems. Upon arrival to the facility, the patience had several incidents of incontinence, which led to the discovery that the patient had HIV. Following a "heated" exchange between the facility and the patient's sister, the patient was removed from the facility. As a result and after a public hearing, the Commission determined that the facility violated the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act by forcing the patient to leave the facility because of her HIV condition. On appeal, the facility argued (as it did before the Commission) that the patient was removed because of the extent of her incontinence issues and she would not have been admitted in the first place if those issues had been disclosed to the facility. The court, however, determined that the argument ignored the fact that the Commission had previously made the credibility determinations against the facility. As a result, there was no basis to overturn the Commission's decision. Moreover, due to the fact that the facility premised the appeal "solely on facts contrary to those found by the trier of fact," the court found the appeal frivolous and awarded counsel fees and delay damages.

Case Law Alert, 1st Qtr 2012