The Esso-Standard Oil Co. of South Africa denied today that it has a policy against hiring Jews. The denial by the firm’s managing director, E. Hart-man, followed publication of a story in the Sunday Express last week that Sharon Harber was refused a job because she is Jewish.
The paper claimed that Miss Harber said she was told this point blank by the Esso official who interviewed her. The Express also quoted an employment agency official who said an Esso spokesman told him when he inquired about Miss Harber, “You know we don’t take Jews.”
Hartman said the company official who interviewed the girl had no authority to make such a statement. He said that Esso South Africa, like its parent body in the United States, had no discriminatory policies in employment and that in fact it had employed Jews. One of them, I. Ber- man, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he worked for Esso South Africa in 1969-1970 and that relations had been most cordial. He said there was never a question of discrimination.
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.
