Lineman With AIDS Returns, 29 Leave
NEEDHAM, Mass. — Twenty-nine telephone company workers walked off their jobs Wednesday to avoid working with a lineman with AIDS, who was reinstated last week after a yearlong legal fight.
New England Telephone Co. management employees were called in to replace workers upset that Paul Cronan, 31, was allowed to return to work at the company’s Needham garage. Cronan was also paid an undisclosed sum under a settlement of a $1.5-million suit.
Work went smoothly on Cronan’s first day back Tuesday, but 29 of 44 workers refused to work Wednesday, officials said.
During a medical leave Cronan took in 1985, word leaked out that he had acquired immune deficiency syndrome. He said he got telephoned death threats.
The settlement included a commitment by the company to educate Cronan’s co-workers about AIDS and make sure he was not harassed.
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