AIDS Law Project
Although the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic has changed dramatically since GLAD founded its AIDS Law Project in 1984, the need for strong legal protections is as critical as ever. The AIDS Law Project continues to fight against discrimination based on HIV status, and for the privacy, health and other legal rights of those living with HIV/AIDS.
The AIDS Law Project is currently working with the Treat Lipodystrophy Coalition in Massachusetts to pass a bill requiring insurance coverage for treatment of what can be a debilitating and devastating side effect of some HIV medications. Read more at www.glad.org/tlc.
If you are living with lipodystrophy - whether or not you have sought or received treatment - please take our confidential survey.
Case Managers and Medical or Social Service Providers: Contact us at 617-426-1350 for information about scheduling an in-service training on GLAD’s AIDS Law Project and HIV-related legal issues.
Latest AIDS Law Project NewsMore→
Legislation Introduced to Require Coverage for Lipodystrophy Treatment
GLAD is working with Massachusetts Representative Carl Sciortino to pass an Act Relative to HIV-Associated Lipodystrophy Treatment (HD2612), … Read More →
Settlement Enables Group Home for People with HIV and Hepatitis C in N.H. to Continue to Operate
Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) announced the settlement of a lawsuit between its client, AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region (ASMR), … Read More →
Project Director
Bennett Klein, Esq.
Ben Klein is a Senior Attorney and has been the AIDS Law Project Director at Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders (GLAD) since 1994. Ben has litigated cases in state and federal trial and appellate courts establishing legal protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people and people living with HIV. He was counsel in Kerrigan & Mock v. Department of Public Health, GLAD’s 2008 victory in the Connecticut Supreme Court ruling that the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage is unconstitutional.Ben was lead counsel in Bragdon v. … Read More →
Related Cases
AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region v. Gilsum
Update June, 2012: GLAD has reached a successful settlement on behalf of AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region (ASMR) that will enable ASMR to … Read More →
Dixit v. Harvard Pilgrim Health Care
GLAD negotiated a successful settlement on behalf of our client after Harvard Pilgrim Health Care refused to cover treatment for the severe … Read More →
AIDS Services for the Monadnock Region v. Town of Gilsum
Victory! GLAD Announced a settlement in this case on September 1, 2009. The settlement will enable ASMR to operate its group home for people with HIV … Read More →
Shaw v. Murphy
On February 19, 2008, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ruled in favor of Ashley Shaw, who has sought to get MassHealth to cover her medically … Read More →
Commonwealth v. Smith
In 2000, GLAD filed a brief in a Middlesex Superior Court criminal action on behalf of a person with HIV who had been charged by Middlesex District … Read More →
Commonwealth v. Landry
In a major victory for public health programs that stem the tide of HIV and hepatitis C, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled on December 6, 2002 that … Read More →
Waddell v. Valley Forge Dental Associates
GLAD filed a friend of the court brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to decide the case of an HIV-positive dental hygienist who was fired after his … Read More →
Doe v. Roe Physicians
GLAD settled a case against a doctor who refused to provide in-office care to a patient with HIV, after the New Hampshire Commission for Human Rights … Read More →
Lesley v. Hee Man Chie
In a disappointing decision, the United States Court of Appeals in Boston upheld a US District Court’s ruling that a Leominster, MA obstetrician did … Read More →
Dahill v. Boston Police Department
In this case, in May 2001, the Mass. Supreme Judicial Court ruled that Massachusetts law prohibits discrimination in employment, housing and public … Read More →
Doe v. Managed Care Organization
In the first legal ruling of its kind in the country, GLAD prevailed in an action to cover the cost of a life-saving liver transplant for a Medicaid … Read More →
Doe v. MetLife Disability Insurance and Raytheon
GLAD, with co-counsel Stephen Rosenfeld and Mala Rafik, won the restoration of disability insurance benefits when an insurer wrongfully terminated … Read More →
Jane Doe v. Roe Moving Company
GLAD won a favorable settlement in a case filed at the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) against a central Massachusetts moving … Read More →
Doe v. Board of Registration of Cosmetology
GLAD obtained clarification from the Board of Registration of Cosmetology that an individual completing a cosmetology program does not fail the … Read More →
Commonwealth v. Ortiz
A single justice of the Supreme Judicial Court issued an opinion strongly affirming the absolute privacy of a person’s HIV status under Massachusetts … Read More →
Doe and Doe v. Department of Social Services
GLAD negotiated an agreement with the Department of Social Services that it was an error for the Department to allow only HIV-positive children to be … Read More →
Doe v. Nashua Housing Authority
GLAD won a change in the practice of the Nashua Housing Authority, which had been illegally demanding private medical information about individuals … Read More →
Lambert v. MetLife Insurance Company
GLAD won the restoration of disability insurance benefits for a Portland man suffering from disabling fatigue where the insurer sought to rely on … Read More →
Doe v. Maine Correctional Center
GLAD succeeded in obtaining proper medical care and medications for an HIV-positive prisoner denied even access to a doctor knowledgeable about HIV.
Doe v. Roe Hospital
GLAD successfully resolved a lawsuit against a hospital that violated the HIV testing and confidentiality statute by revealing a patient’s HIV status … Read More →
Bragdon v. Abbott
In its first case addressing HIV, the United States Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in Bragdon v. Abbott that the federal Americans with Disabilities Act … Read More →
Gavann v. Douglas Wooldridge, M.D.
GLAD obtained a $10,000 judgment in Suffolk Superior Court against a surgeon who illegally tested a patient for HIV without his knowledge or consent.