Two interesting religious discrimination suits filed in New York have been reported on in recent days by the media. TMZ (May 21) reports that Nicole Johnson, a devout Muslim, is suing TV talk show host Bill Cunningham for mental anguish. She claims that when she showed up in the audience for a taping of Cunningham's show wearing her hijab (head scarf), show employees forced her to leave her front row seat and sit in the back. She says she was also prohibited from asking a question during the show.
The New York Post (May 25) reports that Mollie Fermaglich, a New York University faculty member, has sued claiming that after 20 years at NYU and a successful television career, she has been repeatedly passed over for promotion in favor of younger, male, non-Jewish faculty. She says that when she protested working on Passover, a colleague asked her: "Just how Jewish are you?" NYU says there is no basis for her claims.
