In early 2008, 25-year-old Jeremiah S. Johnson of Denver, Colorado, was immediately removed from his assignment tutoring children in the Ukraine and barred from serving further after testing positive for HIV, citing Ukrainian law prohibiting HIV-positive people from working in the country and risks to Johnson's health. Johnson had volunteered with the Peace Corps since December 2006.

"This condition limits your ability to perform your Volunteer assignment," the Peace Corps wrote in its termination letter, "and has the very real potential for further aggravation during the remainder of your Peace Corps service."

"I joined the Peace Corps because I wanted to learn more about the world and help people," Johnson said. "It was hard enough to learn that I had contracted HIV, but to then be shipped home and told I was unworthy of finishing my service was incredibly humiliating."

"It was hard being sent home the way I was," Johnson added. "I had no time to plan for my return. I was forced to have a lot of conversations I wasn't really ready to have. I had no money, no job and no place to live. Fortunately, my family welcomed me back with open arms and helped me get back on my feet."

On April 21, 2008, the ACLU demanded that the Peace Corps reassess its procedures, saying that Mr. Johnson's rights under the 2002 Rehabilitation Act, bolstered by precedent set in the D.C. Circuit Court's 2006 Taylor v. Rice decision, had been violated when he was removed from service without an individual assessment of his fitness to serve. Despite being in good health and showing no signs of his HIV status impairing his ability to work, Johnson was deemed "medically unable" to continue.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act specifically prohibits recipients of financial assistance, including the Peace Corps, from discriminating against an otherwise qualified person due to a disability. The Taylor v. Rice ruling determined that the Foreign Service could not automatically disqualify an applicant solely based on HIV status, saying that the Foreign Service had an obligation to confirm if "reasonable accommodations" could be made. Such an accommodation, the demand letter said, could have been placing Johnson on assignment in a country that allows HIV-positive people to work, or near a medical facility.

On July 15, 2008, Peace Corps General Counsel Tyler S. Posey wrote that his organization would be complying with the Rehabilitation Act in assessing the health and fitness of each volunteer that tests positive for HIV on an individual basis.

"We are very pleased that the Peace Corps has acknowledged that it cannot legally terminate volunteers automatically merely because they test positive for HIV," said Rebecca Shore, staff attorney with the ACLU LGBT Project, on Wednesday. "But actions speak louder than words, so we're going to be keeping a close eye on the agency to make sure it lives up to its promises."

More information on this case, including documents, can be found at the American Civil Liberties Union.