Israel's El Al airline loses gender bias case to Holocaust survivor
JERUSALEM -- An advocacy group representing an 83-year-old Holocaust survivor suing Israel's national airline for discrimination says it's won the case.
The Israel Religious Action Center representing Renee Rabinowitz on Thursday called this week's ruling "revolutionary."
It said an El Al flight attendant asked Rabinowitz to move from her seat next to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish man on a flight from Newark to Tel Aviv following his request. Laws observed by some ultra-Orthodox Jews stipulate strict separation of the sexes.
It said "the deep humiliation Renee felt because of this" led her to seek help.
The center says the case set a precedent and asking passengers now to move their seat due to gender is discrimination, which is prohibited.
It says El Al was ordered to pay Rabinowitz about $1,700 in damages.