Matthew Cusick

After a life of pursuing excellence, being called a "direct threat of harm" was a foreign concept to Matthew Cusick. Although HIV positive since 1993, he never thought of himself as a "known safety hazard" so when discriminators charged, he fought back.

Chinese Pole Training at Cirque

In 2003 Matthew sent an audition tape to Cirque du Soleil, which has a rigorous audition process. After surpassing thousands of international hopefuls, Matthew was invited to train in Montreal for four months. The cold war style training was beyond grueling, but because of his unique talent and drive, he was subsequently offered and accepted a contract to go into the show "Mystère" in Las Vegas, a rare achievement for an American. However, three days prior to arriving in Las Vegas from Cirque headquarters in Montreal; he was told that, due to his HIV status, his contract was being terminated. The company maintained that due to his medical condition, he could pose a risk of harm to both fellow performers and the audience. The company trained him for four intensive months, renewed his contract for more specialized training, then offered him a show contract---yet they knew from day ONE of the training that he was HIV positive. Horrified and deflated, he sought justice.

Lambda Legal, a national organization that works to achieve full civil rights for the LGBTQ community and people with HIV through impact litigation, education, and public policy work, represented Matthew in his fight for justice.

Lambda Legal filed a discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in July 2003 claiming HIV discrimination against the entertainment company. Even though Cirque attempted to convince the EEOC that Matthew was a hazard in the workplace because of he has HIV, the agency found evidence of discrimination. With the help of Lambda Legal, Cirque was forced to settle the complaint and paid the largest settlement in history for an HIV-discrimination complaint settled with the EEOC. Under the settlement agreement, Cirque had to adopt a zero-tolerance policy towards HIV discrimination and will hold annual anti-discrimination trainings for its employees worldwide. Cirque will also have its hiring records open for the EEOC to review for two years, ensuring that the company is in compliance with its agreement.

Sometimes life doesn't happen exactly as you planned. Although Cirque did not turn out to be the ideal company for him, the exposure he received from the incident brought attention to an important subject to mainstream America. Many professionals stood up for Matthew and applauded his stance.

» Read about Matthew's life since Cirque.
» Send an email to Matthew