Disappointing News. Judge Cote ruled against our clients this afternoon - concluding that the USTA did not have the intent to discriminate. Here is the statement I have given to the press As might be expected, our clients are disappointed with the Court’s ruling today. The USTA may repeatedly say that it has no intent to discriminate but its policies effectively bar all Sabbath observers from ever participating in USTA championship tournaments. In its filings, the USTA stated that its championship tournaments are always scheduled to take place on Saturdays and Sundays. The USTA also made clear that due to a rule enacted in 2013, the accommodations that were made for the team in 2007 without any negative consequence are not available today. Today, the USTA insists that Sabbath observers must play all of their scheduled matches (including those that conflict with the player’s Sabbath) or the team is barred from participating in the tournament. The relevant portion of the USTA rule states: “If a team defaults an entire team match for any reason during round robin play, that team is ineligible to continue play at that championship.” The USTA’s total exclusion of our client’s team from the tournament on Sunday September 28 and Monday September 29 because the team cannot appear and play this Saturday, September 27, is equivalent to a rule that would have barred Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax for a week’s play or for an entire World Series because they refrained from play on Yom Kippur. By refusing to make minor adjustments and reschedule individual matches for Sabbath observers, and by insisting that Sabbath observers must play on their Sabbath or be barred from participating in all other tournament matches, the USTA makes it impossible for any Sabbath observer to ever participate in a championship tournament. So the USTA may claim to be “inclusive and inviting” but in reality its actions broadcast loud and clear that Orthodox Jews and other Sabbath observers are not welcome. # # #
Posted on: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 21:37:38 +0000
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