Queens, VW Dealer Angelo Alexiadis Fires Manager Because HIV+

Angelo Alexiadis

Bayside Volkswagen

208-12 Northern Blvd.
Bayside, New York 11361
 

A finance manager at a Queens Volkswagen dealership claims he was fired after his boss found out he was HIV-positive, according to a $4 million lawsuit filed in Manhattan civil court today.

On March 12, Jeffery Villacampa, 43, who had been with Bayside Volkswagen since last fall, accidentally revealed his sickness to supervisors, he said in the court papers.

Villacampa's boss, Angelo Alexiadis, reportedly told Villacampa that he had barred his own brother from entering his home and seeing his nieces and nephews after learning he had the virus, according to the lawsuit.

 When Villacampa asked him to show some sympathy for his sick brother, Alexiadis grew suspicious and inquired if he was also HIV-positive, the suit says.

  

 Villacampa admitted he’d contracted the virus five years ago and was immediately barred from interacting with customers. The $120,000 a year manager was fired a week later and allegedly told he’d be a better fit at a different dealership, the suit says.

“I tried to fight for this guy I’d never met,” Villacampa told The Post.

“I was unbelievably shocked that this could happen in New York City,” the former manager said.

Prior to his ousting Villacampa claims he endured a hostile work environment because he was openly gay, including allegedly hearing Alexiadis throw around the slur "f----t," the suit says.

The manager says his online customer ratings show he was a high-performing employee.

"The conduct of the dealership and the managers is deplorable," said his lawyer, Walker Harman Jr. of the Harman Firm.

“I really haven’t seen anything quite like it in a long time. It sounds like 1987,” Harman added.

Calls to the dealership were not returned. Alexiadis declined to comment.