LEGAL MOVIES COLLECTION | PHILADELPHIA (1993)

Directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Tom Hanks (who won his first Oscar for best actor) and Denzel Washington.

The film was a commercial success, giving light on the AIDS prejudices at that time.

A brilliant lawyer at a prestigious law firm is dismissed when the partners discover he has AIDS. He sues for wrongful termination in a case that becomes a landmark confrontation between law and societal prejudice, raising fundamental questions about human dignity and justice:

1.- Employment Law: The concepts of wrongful termination, breach of contract, and the right to fair treatment in the workplace.

2.- Civil Rights and Discrimination: The legal protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and medical conditions or disabilities.

3.- Privacy Rights: The boundaries of medical privacy and the unlawful disclosure of an employee’s health status.

4.- Access to Justice: The challenges of finding legal representation when facing systemic prejudice, highlighted through the evolution of the defense attorney’s perspective.

*In this series we analyse the legal rights involved in the most iconic movies.*