NY Teacher Loses Suit Claiming Religious Discrimination and Christian Activities In School

In Eder v. City of New York, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 11501 (SD NY Feb. 12, 2009), a New York federal district court rejected claims by a Jewish public school teacher who was denied tenure that various Christian activities at her school violated the Establishment Clause. It also rejected teacher Melissa Eder's federal and state religious employment discrimination claims and her Title VII claims of retaliation and hostile work environment. The court held that activities such as a teachers' prayer group in the Principal's office and prayers over food at a faculty holiday party were private activities and did not carry the imprimatur of the school. The court found insufficient evidence of religious discrimination in the extension of Eder's probationary period, instead of granting her tenure, despite claims that the principal had referred to her as "poison." The court also rejected claims that incidents such as someone leaving a rabbi's picture on Eder's chair and co-workers referring to Adolph Hitler as a revolutionary thinker amounted to a hostile work environment.