Brandon Smith was fired from a Maryland Hair Cuttery after he tested positive for HIV. (Photo courtesy of the ACLU of Maryland)

The company that owns the Hair Cuttery chain of hair salons has agreed to reinstate assistant manager and hair stylist Brandon Smith whom it fired from its salon in Greenbelt, Md., in August after learning he had tested positive for HIV.

The reinstatement and an accompanying public apology comes two weeks after the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland filed a discrimination complaint on Smith’s behalf over the firing against the Vienna, Va., based Ratner Companies, the parent company of the Hair Cuttery and other name brand salons operating in Maryland, Virginia and D.C.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the ACLU of Maryland said it was pleased to announce that Brandon Smith and Ratner Companies had reached an agreement to resolve the complaint that “will both bring justice to Mr. Smith and strengthen the Companies’ commitment to fair treatment of its clients and employees.”

The ACLU complaint, which was filed with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleged that the Hair Cuttery shop that fired Smith had violated the federal Americans With Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination based solely on someone’s HIV status.

In a dismissal letter given to Smith at the time of the firing in August, the Ratner Companies said it based its action on a Maryland regulation of the cosmetology profession. According to the ACLU, the company claimed the regulation prohibits hair salons from employing someone working as a hair stylist who has an “infectious” or “contagious” disease such as HIV.

ACLU of Maryland Legal Director Deborah Jeon said at the time the legal group filed the complaint on Smith’s behalf that the company had misinterpreted the state regulation.

“You don’t get HIV by getting your hair cut, and we cannot allow unfounded fears to drive workplace discrimination against Marylanders living with HIV,” she said in an Aug. 9 statement. “The Hair Cuttery fired Brandon Smith notwithstanding the fact that he did not pose a significant risk to the health and safety of others, the applicable legal standard.”

In a statement released by the ACLU of Maryland on Wednesday, Dennis Ratner, founder and CEO of Ratner Companies, said, “Ratner Companies deeply regrets the dismissal of Mr. Smith from his employment with Hair Cuttery and sincerely apologizes for his termination, the company’s initial responsive statement based on erroneous information, and any harm done to Mr. Smith.”

Ratner’s statement adds, “Ratner Companies does not condone or tolerate illegal workplace discrimination of any kind, and it is not the company’s policy to terminate employees who are living with HIV or another disability.”

The ACLU of Maryland statement says Ratner Companies agreed to “make appropriate restitution to Mr. Smith” along with reinstatement. Jeon of the ACLU told the Blade the agreement reached calls for the company to provide Smith with back pay plus financial compensation for damages related to emotional distress caused by the firing.

“We are heartened by the quick action that Ratner Companies has taken to resolve the injustice suffered by Brandon Smith and to ensure that never again will an employee of Hair Cuttery or any other of the Companies’ salons be terminated because they are living with HIV,” the ACLU’s Jeon said in the group’s statement.

“It is our hope that this settlement sends a strong and clear message to other employers so that unfounded fears and misconceptions no longer drive workplace discrimination against those with disabilities,” she said.