G. DeWolf Shaw acknowledges upfront that he is hardly a role model for the gay community. Having lost his wife of 26 years and alienated his three children after they discovered he was having an extramarital affair with a Boston man in October 1996 - just two weeks before his daughter's wedding - Shaw's inadvertent coming out was hardly a welcome event.

He was even less prepared for the HIV diagnosis that followed one month later, after his estranged family insisted he have a blood test (his wife tested negative). Three weeks after that, Shaw was diagnosed with full-blown AIDS.

With his personal life in shambles, Shaw had only his work. A vice-president and director of the Toronto-based First Marathon Securities Ltd. and First Marathon USA, Shaw counted among his clients a number of Boston-based financial giants such as Putnam Investments, State Street Research, Fleet Bank and BankBoston. An employee of the company since January 1989, Shaw had an exemplary record.

But he found little solace in his workplace when his colleagues began to probe into his personal affairs and his medical condition. Days after his AIDS diagnosis, his partners learned of his condition.

In February 1997, Shaw was demoted to assistant office manager as First Marathon felt he was "unfocused" after the dissolution of his marriage. But Shaw was undaunted and in the face of what he claims was a continued pattern of harassment, discrimination and invasion of privacy, he showed up for work every day, to the shock of his office mates.

The final straw came late in 1998, when First Marathon Securities Ltd. and First Marathon USA hired Kym Anthony to succeed Bloomberg as president and charged him with the task of preparing the company to be bought out by National Bank of Canada. In December, Anthony put in a call to Shaw's psychotherapist of almost three years, Dr. Scott C.A. Watson, and allegedly asked him if Shaw was gay and had AIDS.

Anthony has denied this accusation, stating that he called Watson for insight into how Shaw might react to being dismissed from the company. But shortly after Shaw filed a complaint alleging invasion of privacy, he received his walking papers from First Marathon in January 1999, exactly 10 years after coming on board.

The company alleged it was Shaw's potential to engage in risky business behavior, in addition to abusing workplace perks, such as his expense account, that led to his firing. He refused to sign a form releasing First Marathon from any legal claim and First Marathon filed a termination form with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), stating that Shaw's termination was a mutual decision, a claim Shaw says is absolutely false.

Shaw has fought a battle of David and Goliath proportions against First Marathon Securities Ltd. and First Marathon USA, which were bought by National Bank of Canada last summer. In early 1999, he filed suit with Quebec's Labor Standards Commission against First Marathon Securities Ltd., alleging wrongful termination. He also lodged a discrimination complaint with Quebec's Human Rights Commission, as well as an $80 million civil lawsuit.