Cirque agrees to rehire HIV-positive man

Deirdre Newman

Cirque du Soleil officials announced Thursday that it will offer to

reinstate a performer who was fired last spring after he disclosed

that he was HIV-positive.

Cirque du Soleil officials feared that 32-year-old Matthew

Cusick’s condition could endanger fellow performers.

“It’s been demonstrated to us that the risks are minimal, so we

feel confident that safety can be ensured,” Cirque spokeswoman

Renee-Claude Menard said.

Gay rights and workers’ rights protesters have staged two protests

at the Orange County Fairgrounds against Cirque du Soleil outside the

“Varekai” tents since the sophisticated circus came to Costa Mesa on

Jan. 16.

The catalyst for Cirque du Soleil’s offer is a proposal from the

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunities Commission in response to a

federal discrimination complaint filed on Cusick’s behalf by Lambda

Legal, a gay and lesbian civil rights organization. On Thursday, the

office issued a proposal for mediation, Menard said.

Instead of waiting for a solution to evolve out of the mediation

process, Cirque du Soleil is coming to the table solution in hand,

Menard said.

Cusick was unavailable for comment. Fred Shank, spokesman for

Lambda Legal, said he couldn’t comment on Cirque du Soleil’s offer.

Cirque du Soleil received a torrent of criticism for yanking

Cusick just a few days before he was set to begin performing in its

Las Vegas show, “Mystere.”

Cirque du Soleil officials received and evaluated a lot of

information from different sources about Cusick’s case, Menard said,

and the company is wiser from dealing with this experience.

“It was a learning procedure, and we’re going to keep learning,”

Menard said. “We can’t be experts in everything. There’s a reason for

everything. This is one case, and I can guarantee it’s the last case

on the subject.”

* DEIRDRE NEWMAN covers Costa Mesa. She may be reached at (949)

574-4221 or by e-mail at deirdre.newman@latimes.com.