BROOKLYN: City Moves On Orthodox Businesses Over "Modesty" Dress Code

The NYC Commission On Human Rights is seeking to fine Ultra-Orthodox Jewish businesses for posting dress code notices that target "immodestly" dressed women. Gothamist reports:

"There's nothing wrong with a dress code," says Clifford Mulqueen, the Deputy Commissioner and General Counsel for the Commission on Human Rights. "What the law says is that you can't advertise in a way that might make one protected group of individuals uncomfortable. When you speak about sleeveless shirts or low-cut necklines you're specifically referring to women's dress, and that may make women feel unconformable and unwelcome." But the Orthodox Jewish Public Affairs Council argues that the signage, which has since been removed from the storefronts on Lee Avenue, is merely a request. "From our understanding of the signs, they express a wish, not a condition of service, similar to the dress code of the Court Room where this case will be heard," Yossi Gestetner, Co-Founder of OJPAC said in a statement.

An attorney for the shops says, "Frankly, it’s very troubling that the commission thinks it’s okay for the Four Seasons restaurant to impose a dress code but not a bakery owned by a Hasidic businessman." The case will be heard in January and the businesses face a $5000 fine each.

OJPAC has been running radio ads about the flap.

RELATED: A Hasidic group in Williamsburg last year succeeded in having a bike lane removed because of the way those slutty female bike riders tend to dress.