The Working Environment Change Badly After Disclosing His HIV Status

Berg (left) says he was devastated and unemployed after his HIV diagnosis. HIs luck took a turn for the better when he was hired at Bar Louie -- or so he thought By Aaron Rupar. Dylan Berg has sued Uptown's Bar Louie for the way he was treated after he told a manager he has HIV.   Berg, 30, was diagnosed with HIV last summer. A month later, he was hired at Bar  Louie, but his tenure there didn't last long. According to the Star Tribune, about a month after starting there, Berg told a  manager about his diagnosis and said he might have to miss some shifts as he  began  a new course of medication. But shortly thereafter, he was removed from the  schedule. Berg says he became persona non grata to Bar Louie management after he  revealed his HIV-positive status -- until his lawyer became involved. After his  attorney contacted management, Berg was finally put back on the schedule, but  by that time he'd found another job and was no longer interested in returning. In the lawsuit, Berg and his attorney allege the way Bar Louie treated him  violated the Minnesota Human Rights Act. Berg is seeking damages for the income  he lost last fall. But in a statement, Bar Louie's attorney, Richard Pins, denies that Berg's medical condition had anything to do with his employment status at the new Uptown  hotspot, though he says he won't delve into details until the matter reaches  court. Bar Louie's management told Berg's attorney last fall that his client  wasn't fired, but had actually quit his job. But that's not the case, Berg says. "HIV doesn't have the stigma that it used to," Berg told the Strib. "I'm not dying,  and this is something that is controllable.”