Bank Rescinds Ban Against Permitting an Employee to Wear a Yarmulka at Work

A student of an Orthodox day school in Brooklyn has obtained permission to wear a skullcap while working as a summer employee at the Anchor Savings Bank of Brooklyn, after being told initially he could not, an official of the National Jewish Commission on Law and Public Affairs (COLPA) reported today. Howard Rhine, vice-president of COLPA, said he had intervened when he was informed that Mark Krauss, a student of the senior graduating class of the Mesivta and Yeshiva Toras Emes Kamenetz, had been told he could not wear his yarmulke at his summer job. The bank manager told the youth, who appeared for job registration at the bank wearing his skullcap, that this was against bank regulations. Mr. Rhine said he had discussed the matter with the bank’s personnel supervisor, pointing out that the ban was contrary to the city’s anti-bias law on employment. He said he then notified Rabbi Yehuda Oelbaum, the school principal, that the bank had cancelled the restriction.