MTA required Jewish conductor to prove he was observant to take Rosh Hashanah off: report

Union leaders said that Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) officials asked an Orthodox Jewish transit worker to prove he was religiously observant before he was allowed to take Rosh Hashanah off, according to the New York Daily News.

Officials with Transport Workers Local 100 told the newspaper that the transit authority initially denied Benjamin Schaeffer, 22, permission to take the Jewish new year off. The MTA later said Schaeffer would be allowed to take Rosh Hashanah off, but he would need to document his observance of the holiday, the union officials added.

{mosads}“This smacks of anti-Semitism, and is definitely anti-worker,” the union said in a statement to the Daily News. “What kind of railroad is MTA Chairman Pat Foye running?”

Union officials told the Daily News that Schaeffer had been granted the holiday in previous years and followed the rules by asking for the time off three weeks in advance.

However, the union officials said an MTA supervisor told them there were “many employees who request to have days off for religious observance and are not granted due to the slots being full, and the high need for personnel. So in order to try to accommodate the employee’s and be fair, I am requesting documentation.”

The union said that no further information was provided on what form of documentation would be accepted.

“We value and respect our employees’ religious beliefs and make every effort to accommodate requests for time off,” an MTA spokesman said in a statement to The Hill.

“This request was received after all leave slots for this day and job title had been distributed, but the supervisor involved made an exception for Mr. Schaeffer and granted him the day off. This issue has been reviewed by [New York City Transit Authority] supervision and it was confirmed that no documentation is necessary,” he added.

–This report was updated at 2:00 p.m.