“These stores are public accommodations, and they are prohibited from
posting any kind of advertisement specifying a preference for one type
of customer or another, or expressing discrimination against one type or
another.…It seems pretty clear that it’s geared toward women dressing modestly if
they choose to come into the store, and that would be discrimination.”
Ha'aretz reports:
Does a requirement that customers at Satmar-run stores in [Williamsburg,] Brooklyn dress modestly run afoul of human rights law? That is the question at issue in the upcoming trial of seven businesses being sued by New York City’s Commission on Human Rights for having signs in their storefronts stating, “No shorts, no barefoot, no sleeveless, no low cut neckline allowed in this store.”…
“These stores are public accommodations, and they are prohibited from posting any kind of advertisement specifying a preference for one type of customer or another, or expressing discrimination against one type or another,” said Clifford Mulqueen, deputy commissioner and general counsel to the human rights commission.…
The signs are “pretty specific to women,” Mulqueen said. “It seems pretty clear that it’s geared toward women dressing modestly if they choose to come into the store, and that would be discrimination.”…
“The only bias I see in these lawsuits is a stereotype by the City Commission of Human Rights that ‘all Hasidim must be guilty of discrimination because they’re all misogynists,’ ” said Marc Stern, a civil rights expert who works as counsel to the American Jewish Committee. Stern said he is informally advising the attorney representing the businesses. “It reflects a bias on the part of this commission.”…
Businesses are allowed to set dress codes, said Stern, citing as examples private clubs in Manhattan, where “if you walked in in shorts and a halter top, you’d be tackled by the old doorman.…[Courts have] even upheld the Hooters dress code” …
“How is it, within three miles of the city commission’s office, there are God knows how many restaurants with different gender-based dress codes, and the city commission doesn’t pursue them?” said Stern. “If those don’t get challenged why does this?”
I broke the story of these signs, something the Ha'aretz reporter knows but did not bother to cite.
Related Posts:
Williamsburg Grocery Store Dress Code.
Williamsburg Modesty Sign.
Women! Move To The Side! Another Modesty Edict From Williamsburg.