KROGER SETS GUIDELINES AFTER COMPLAINT

MICHAEL HARRISON

CINCINNATI -- Kroger Co. here appears to have diffused a complaint lodged with the state's civil rights commission regarding access to in-store baby-sitting facilities.

The complaint was filed after officials at a Kroger store in Columbus, Ohio, denied access to an in-store play area called PePe's Playhouse to a young boy infected with the HIV virus that causes AIDS. New company guidelines have since been put in place. The company has worked on preparing attendants to deal with related problems, the company told SN last week.

Also while the new policy bars children exhibiting "symptoms of contagious illness" it states that an HIV-positive child will be admitted as long as he or she does not pose a threat to the other children, the company said.

The play area, a customer service intended to keep children occupied while their parents or guardians shop, is supervised by Kroger employees. Store officials said they were following company policy designed to protect all children in the play area from contracting infectious diseases or other contagious maladies, such as pink eye.

A public hearing on the complaint was scheduled by the commission for April 2. "The official status is the case is still open," Ronn Kolbash, chief of governmental affairs for the Ohio State Civil rights Commission, told SN. However, "in light of Kroger's hopefully coming into compliance [with state civil rights laws], a hearing may not be needed," he added.

Lynn Marmer, a Kroger spokeswoman, told SN that with the new guidelines, "it's our belief the case has been made moot."

The incident that led to the complaint occurred in 1997, when the HIV-infected boy was five years old. The boy, a group-home resident who was born with the virus, was brought to the store by his guardian, a nurse at the group home. The nurse filled out a registration card and noted on it that if the boy should bleed for any reason, the baby-sitters should don gloves and call her immediately. Several days later, she received a call from a store manager who told her that the boy, who had no visible symptoms, would no longer be accepted at PePe's Playhouse.

At the time, "we believe [the store] was acting appropriately," under the existing guidelines, Marmer said.

The new Kroger policy has two significant differences from the prior one: Parents and guardians are now required to fill out a more extensive "health screening check list," as Marmer put it. Also, "We've increased the training required of playhouse attendants," she said.

Attendants now must take state-approved lessons in disease prevention and "handling potentially dangerous blood, such as blood infected with HIV or hepatitis," Marmer said. In the wake of the complaint, the company did consider discontinuing the baby-sitting service. "We had to sit back and take a look at this," Marmer said. It was soon decided that it "is widely accepted by the customers and we wanted to continue it if it could be done with confidence," that no one's health would be compromised.

Kolbash said the commission is waiting to receive a copy of the company's new guidelines before formally moving to drop the case. "The commission needs to review it and make sure it comes into compliance with Ohio's public accommodation laws," he said.