A physical therapist who allegedly prevented a woman with HIV from accessing a therapeutic swimming pool has denied the allegations.
In court papers, Timothy Burch, a leased employee of OSS Orthopaedic Hospital in York, denied that he prevented “Bonnie Jones” from using the hospital’s pool last year.
Jones is suing the hospital, Burch and Burch’s direct employer, Drayer Physical Therapy Institute, for an unspecified amount in damages.
The incident occurred June 26, 2015, when Burch allegedly blocked Jones’ access to the pool in a vocal manner that divulged Jones’ serostatus to onlookers.
But in a 14-page reply filed Aug. 22, attorneys for Burch denied that he stopped Jones from using the pool. The filing also denies that Burch disclosed Jones’ serostatus to onlookers.
“[A]fter completion of his initial evaluation, [Burch] discussed an overall physical therapy plan of care and outlined a number of possible therapy interventions with [Jones], including aquatic therapy,” the attorneys wrote. “Mr. Burch completed the physical therapy regimen on the same date as the initial evaluation, June 26, 2015, and included in [Jones’] treatment plan the potential for aquatic therapy to be administered in future treatment sessions.”
The filing contends that Jones volunteered information about her serostatus, though she wasn’t asked by Burch whether she’s HIV-positive.
The filing goes on to note that, after their therapy session, Burch escorted Jones to the front desk, where she scheduled 12 additional sessions.
Moreover, the filing denies that Burch and/or Drayer violated any laws and requests that the case be dismissed, and that Jones pay their attorneys’ fees.
“[Jones] has not incurred any actual damages or injury in this matter,” the attorneys wrote. “[Jones’] claims are unfounded, frivolous and not warranted by existing law. [They] lack factual foundation and are devoid of evidentiary support.”
In a previous filing, Burch and Drayer sought to have Jones publicly named in court papers, but their request was denied.
As of presstime, the hospital hadn’t responded to Jones’ allegations. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane, based in Harrisburg.