Fired for hitting on girl or being religious?

Can a young religious man work as security guard in a beach despite not being able to work on Shabbat? Is a security guard allowed to hit on girls at work? The Tel Aviv Labor Court will address these two issues, which both pertain to the same individual.

Yaron (not his real name) started working as a security guard at a Netanya beach two months ago. He was employed by the Lavi Security manpower agency, a Netanya Municipality sub-contractor. He was dismissed after a month.

On Sunday, he filed a claim with the Tel Aviv Labor Court claiming that he was fired because the municipality had changed its mind about hiring a worker who does not work on Shabbat.

Yaron claimed that his boss, Yaakov Sulam, who is the Netanya Municipality's beach supervisor, explicitly told him that it was unacceptable for him not to work on Saturdays. According to Yaron, Sulam did not change his mind even after he told him that the law prohibits him from firing a worker who refuses to work on Shabbat.

"Yaron was hired after declaring he was religious and would not work on Saturdays, which was evident by the fact that he wore a yarmulke," the motion stated. "Yaron helped find a worker who would fill in for him on Saturdays but was later fired with the secular worker taking his place."

The municipality and Lavi Security are denying the claims.

Different version

Meanwhile, a source familiar with the case painted a wholly different picture when explaining the reason for Yaron's dismissal. "Yaron could have continued working, without having to do Saturday shifts. The managers suggested he move to a religious beach but he refused," he said.

"The story is completely different. Yaron hit on a girl during his shift. The lifeguard caught him and reported to his superiors. The Netanya Municipality considers this as a disciplinary offence."

Yaron refused to comment on the claims. His attorney denied the allegations.

Michael Lavi, owner of Lavi Security said in response: "As a religious person I would never imagine firing someone for not working on Saturdays. Sulam told me he was firing the man for not being right for the job, without explanations. Not anyone is suited to work in a beach. We offered the man another job and he has not gotten back to us yet."

The Netanya Municipality said in response: "This is a new worker who did not follow work procedure and municipality protocol and the sub-contractor was asked not to send him to work. There is no connection to the Shabbat issue. The city respects the employee's religious codes as well as those of all the rest of the employees. "

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