An appeal was argued today in the Ohio Supreme Court by Leo Pfeffer, counsel for the Youngstown Jewish Community Council and the American Jewish Congress, from a decision of the Court of Appeals which affirmed the ruling of the Board of Review of Unemployment Compensation of Ohio denying unemployment compensation to an Orthodox Jewish employee who refused to accept a position that required her to work on Saturday.
Complainant in the case is Mary Jane Heisler, who was denied unemployment benefits on November 13, 1946, after she refused to investigate potential employment at St. Elizabeth Hospital, Youngstown, Ohio, when told that the job would require working on the Sabbath. Mr. Pfeffer said that this case will be appealed to the United States Supreme Court, if necessary.
Mr. Pfeffer argued that the decision of the Board of Review of the Bureau of Unemployment Compensation of Ohio violates Amendment I of the U.S. Constitution, which says that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. ” He further charged that the decision violates the Ohio State Constitution, Section 7, which provides that: “All men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own conscience…nor shall any interference with the rights of conscience be permitted. “
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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.
