The New York City commission on Human Rights announced today it will hold a hearing on May 7 on the complaint of an Orthodox Jew that he was refused permission to wear a skullcap while working at his job at the New York Stock Exchange. The commission said the complaint, charging discrimination, was filed by Abraham J. Goldstein, 26, of Forest Hills, N.Y. who has been employed by the exchange as a tube operator since April, 1968. The complainant declared that, during an orientation session soon after he was hired, he was told he could not wear a skullcap while he was working on the floor during trading hours and when Mr. Goldstein asked why, he was told it would “disturb the brokers.” He said he then agreed not to wear the skullcap, as required by Jewish tradition, during those trading hours. Last January, he declared in his complaint, he was wearing the skullcap while working off the exchange floor on an upper level, a practice he followed since he was hired, when a supervisor told him he could not wear the skullcap anywhere in the exchange building. He filed his complaint in January, charging he was discriminated against because of his religion, which is illegal under city anti-discrimination law.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
