Chief Assistant District Attorney Edward S. Silver today ordered an inquiry into charges made yesterday that the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, the New York Telephone Company, and the Consolidated Edison Company were violating state anti-discrimination laws in their Brooklyn offices.
The accusations were made by State Senator Louis L. Friedman, who pointed out in the Senate that nearly 50 percent of Brooklyn’s 2,500,000 population is Jewish, and declared: “It seems to me that some percentage of the employees of these utility companies would ordinarily be persons of Jewish faith if discrimination were not being practiced.”
Hugh Cuthrell, vice-president of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company, stated that his firm is observing the letter and the spirit of the law, and that it “does not discriminate against any one–employee, applicant for employment, or customer–because of his race, creed, or color.”
The New York Telephone Company also denied the charge asserting “the company has on its pay rolls a large number of Americans of Jewish ancestry, many of them holding responsible positions.” Consolidated Edison has not, as yet, made any comment.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
