Nov 7, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 11 segments
Walter “Rolando” Iglesias was a veteran waiter whose steady presence graced San Francisco’s toniest restaurants throughout the 1980s and 1990s, most notably in 1991 ‘Stars’ under owner-chef Jeremiah…
William HampsonHost
Walter Rolando Iglesias, known as Rolando or Rolly to those closest to him, was born on the 19th of June 1959, and by the time that Rolando joined Star's Restaurant in downtown San Francisco in 1991, he was 32 and uncertain of his HIV status.
It was only later, in an article from the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, otherwise known as the BAR, dated the 30th of October, 1993, that Rolando's HIV status was made public.
Rolando was a veteran waiter at one of the city's most talked about restaurants, and found his personal and professional reputation devastated by the fear surrounding the AIDS crisis.
We first hear of his story in 1993, where the BAR... ran the headline, HIV Patients Lawsuit vs Restauranteur Back in Court, with the strapline says he was fired for having AIDS, where, they report, a dying man's legal case against famed restauranteur Jeremiah Tower will be back in court Thursday amid accusations that the owner of Starz lied under oath.
Thursday's hearing is a last-ditch effort to reinstate a suit filed by Rolando Iglesias, 35, who contends he was fired as a waiter from Starz in December 1991 because he has AIDS.
Tower and his lawyers say the restaurant owner and his managers never knew Iglesias had AIDS and that he was fired for telling a customer the kitchen had run out of a dessert souffle when it hadn't.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge William Cahill threw the lawsuit out September 27th, just weeks before the trial, on grounds that Iglesias never proved that Tower knew he had AIDS.
Cahill said Iglesias was fired for good cause because he admitted failing to serve the souffle according to court documents.
Iglesias attorney Stephen A. Schechtman of San Francisco is asking the judge to reconsider, based on declarations from four new witnesses who contradict statements made in Tower's case.
a jury should because he eats regularly at stars whose tony reputation and location near the federal building and city hall make it a favorite of judges lawyers mayors and other politicians he forgot to tell us about that before he ruled said shechtman However, citing the need to move quickly because of his client's fragile health, Schechtman last week dropped an illegal challenge to Cahill after the judge said in court that his impartiality was not affected by weekly dinners and occasional drinks at Starz.
Iglesias went to work at STARS in February 1991 and was diagnosed as HIV positive that August when he was off work for a month because of age-related pneumonia.
The new evidence, made under oath, comes from former Starz employees, whose existence Shetman learned of only days before Cahill dismissed the suit and could not interview until after, according to Shetman's motion.
In the motion, the new witnesses directly contradict Towers' testimony that he never speculated about the sexual orientation of his employees, never thought that their pneumonia or other health problems might be age-related.
Shetman's motion, argues the new testimony, raises questions of fact about what Tower and his managers actually knew, questions that deserve to be resolved by a jury trial.
Hechtman argued in court September 27th that even if Iglesias did not tell Tower and his managers that he had AIDS, Tower must have known that he lives in a city where gays and AIDS are a fact of life, that he has taken part in AIDS-related charities and because he has had friends and other employees succumb to the disease.
We don't believe that's changed by this motion for reconsideration, end quote.
In papers opposing reconsideration, Glatzer argues that Cahill ruled that Starr's managers were unaware of Iglesias' aides and Shetman, quote, again offers no evidence of actual knowledge.
Walter Rolando Iglesias, known as Rolando or Rolly to those closest to him, was born on the 19th of June 1959, and by the time that Rolando joined Star's Restaurant in downtown San Francisco in 1991, he was 32 and uncertain of his HIV status.
It was only later, in an article from the San Francisco Bay Area Reporter, otherwise known as the BAR, dated the 30th of October, 1993, that Rolando's HIV status was made public.
Rolando was a veteran waiter at one of the city's most talked about restaurants, and found his personal and professional reputation devastated by the fear surrounding the AIDS crisis.
We first hear of his story in 1993, where the BAR... ran the headline, HIV Patients Lawsuit vs Restauranteur Back in Court, with the strapline says he was fired for having AIDS, where, they report, a dying man's legal case against famed restauranteur Jeremiah Tower will be back in court Thursday amid accusations that the owner of Starz lied under oath.
Thursday's hearing is a last-ditch effort to reinstate a suit filed by Rolando Iglesias, 35, who contends he was fired as a waiter from Starz in December 1991 because he has AIDS.
Tower and his lawyers say the restaurant owner and his managers never knew Iglesias had AIDS and that he was fired for telling a customer the kitchen had run out of a dessert souffle when it hadn't.
San Francisco Superior Court Judge William Cahill threw the lawsuit out September 27th, just weeks before the trial, on grounds that Iglesias never proved that Tower knew he had AIDS.
Cahill said Iglesias was fired for good cause because he admitted failing to serve the souffle according to court documents.
Iglesias attorney Stephen A. Schechtman of San Francisco is asking the judge to reconsider, based on declarations from four new witnesses who contradict statements made in Tower's case.
a jury should because he eats regularly at stars whose tony reputation and location near the federal building and city hall make it a favorite of judges lawyers mayors and other politicians he forgot to tell us about that before he ruled said shechtman However, citing the need to move quickly because of his client's fragile health, Schechtman last week dropped an illegal challenge to Cahill after the judge said in court that his impartiality was not affected by weekly dinners and occasional drinks at Starz.
Iglesias went to work at STARS in February 1991 and was diagnosed as HIV positive that August when he was off work for a month because of age-related pneumonia.
The new evidence, made under oath, comes from former Starz employees, whose existence Shetman learned of only days before Cahill dismissed the suit and could not interview until after, according to Shetman's motion.
In the motion, the new witnesses directly contradict Towers' testimony that he never speculated about the sexual orientation of his employees, never thought that their pneumonia or other health problems might be age-related.
Shetman's motion, argues the new testimony, raises questions of fact about what Tower and his managers actually knew, questions that deserve to be resolved by a jury trial.
Hechtman argued in court September 27th that even if Iglesias did not tell Tower and his managers that he had AIDS, Tower must have known that he lives in a city where gays and AIDS are a fact of life, that he has taken part in AIDS-related charities and because he has had friends and other employees succumb to the disease.
We don't believe that's changed by this motion for reconsideration, end quote.
In papers opposing reconsideration, Glatzer argues that Cahill ruled that Starr's managers were unaware of Iglesias' aides and Shetman, quote, again offers no evidence of actual knowledge.
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