Chasidic bus line agree to remove curtain used to divide men and women. A commuter bus catering to Orthodox Jews has agreed to take down a curtain separating men and women passengers as part of a settlement with a woman who refused to give up her seat so that the male passengers could pray.
The settlement reached last week ended a law suit against the Monsey Trails bus company brought by Sima Rabinovicz after a December 1993 incident.
Male passengers had asked Rabinovicz to give up her seat in the women’s section so they could expand the men’s section to accommodate all the men who wished to recite the afternoon prayers.
Rabinovicz, who is not Orthodox, refused. She charged that the bus driver and several of the passengers harassed her. The men ended up praying in the street.
Rabinovicz sued the bus company on the basis of sex discrimination. The company, which operates the Manhattan-Rockland Country route, is Chasidic-owned but government subsidized. Anyone can ride the bus, but the passengers are almost exclusively Chasidic Jews who live in Monsey, N.Y., and the surrounding area.
With both sides declaring victory, the settlement reached March 14 stipulates that the bus company can no longer provide the curtain, or anything on which to hang the curtain, such as hooks. Passengers will also be allowed to sit wherever they choose.
But passengers will be allowed to provide their own curtains and duct tape, as long as they do not interfere with other passengers or pose a safety problem.
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