Aramco Agrees to Stop Discriminating Against Jewish Job Applicants

The six-year legal battle against the employment practices of the Arabian American Oil Company (ARAMCO) appeared ended yesterday with agreement by the oil firm to obey an order by the New York Commission for Human Rights to stop discriminating against Jewish Job applicants.

The agreement was contained in a stipulation entered into by ARAMCO, the American Jewish Congress–which fought the issue through the courts–and the Commission for Human Rights. Shad Polier, chairman of the American Jewish Congress governing council, called the agreement a “major victory in the fight for equality for all our citizens.”

Under terms of the stipulation, ARAMCO waived any right to contest the decision handed down last September by the Commission which ruled that the oil firm had illegally questioned job applications about their religion and had refused to hire Jewish applicants for its offices in New York City or for its oil field operations in Saudi Arabia.

The company also waived any right to challenge the validity of the Commission’s order requiring it to cease and desist from any discriminatory practices and to take certain steps to wipe out the effect of past discrimination; and to withdraw its application to the New York Supreme Court for an order to annul the Commission’s decision.

The Commission correspondingly withdrew its counter-application for a court order to enforce the decision but the commission reserved the right to apply to the court for an enforcement order if at any time in the future it deemed ARAMCO guilty of further discrimination. Such an order would be enforceable by contempt proceedings, American Jewish Congress officials said.