Gymnast files complaint against Cirque du Soleil

By Liz Benston (contact)

Wednesday, July 16, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

An HIV-positive gymnast who was denied a job with the Cirque du Soleil show "Mystere" at the Treasure Island resort filed a federal discrimination complaint against Cirque on Tuesday.

The complaint, filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's Los Angeles office, says gymnast Matthew Cusick disclosed his condition shortly after he was hired by Cirque last summer to train as an acrobat for the show. He passed several medical exams given by Cirque's staff doctor, who said Cusick's viral load was "undetectable" and that he was a "healthy athlete," the complaint said.

Shortly before he was scheduled to perform in Las Vegas, Cirque told Cusick that he wouldn't be in the show.

Cusick contacted the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a nonprofit civil rights group that assists in discrimination claims on behalf of gays, lesbians and people with HIV and AIDS.

Lambda Legal attempted to have Cusick reinstated in the performance before filing the charge, but Cirque refused the request, the nonprofit's AIDS Project Director Hayley Gorenberg said.

Cusick's complaint said that in a letter this spring, Cirque du Soleil attorneys said Cusick's medical condition would "likely pose a direct threat of harm" to other performers.

"It's preposterous for Cirque du Soleil to call Matthew a 'known safety hazard,' " Gorenberg said. "Cirque du Soleil denied Matthew this job not because of sound science or rational concern for other employees but because of unfounded fear. It defies both common sense and science to think that Matthew would exchange bodily fluids with another gymnast while flying through the air."

A representative for the Canadian-based circus troupe declined to comment on the complaint.

"Legal discussions are still taking place," spokeswoman Renee Claude Menard said. "We prefer not to comment while the legal procedures take their course."

The EEOC must first review discrimination complaints and may attempt to resolve them through mediation. If unsuccessful, Cusick may sue the company under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which protects people with disabilities from discrimination. The EEOC review may take up to six months.

"Maybe it's naive, but I never thought I'd be kept from pursuing my dreams because I'm HIV-positive," said Cusick, who has lived with HIV for 10 years. "I thought society had gotten beyond thinking that people with HIV can only do desk jobs and never come into contact with other people."

Lambda regularly receives calls and letters from people who are denied employment or services over fear of HIV transmission, Gorenberg said.

"Today the HIV/AIDS community is incredibly diverse. Matthew may have HIV, but he is in better physical shape than most people who don't have HIV," she said.

"Mystere" opened at Treasure Island in 1993, followed by a second Cirque show, "O," at Bellagio in 1998. The Montreal-based troupe will debut "Zumanity," an erotic dance and acrobatic performance, at New York-New York next month. A fourth show is set to open next year at MGM Grand. More than 500 performers from several countries perform in Cirque du Soleil shows worldwide.