Avis to Appeal Ruling on Anti-Jewish Bias

Avis Rent a Car Inc., the second-largest U.S. rental car company, said Wednesday that it will appeal the class-action certification of a lawsuit alleging that Avis denied Jewish customers the benefits of corporate accounts because of their religious background.

In a ruling issued Monday, U.S. District Judge Alan Gold said the 1997 case could proceed as a class action. The plaintiffs contend the suit could apply to thousands of would-be Avis customers.

“We are going to appeal promptly to the 11th Circuit,” Avis spokesman Ton Fuller said, referring to the Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

The 1997 suit, filed on behalf of Levi Sufrin of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., alleges that from 1990 to 1995, Avis deliberately barred prospective Jewish customers from holding corporate accounts and gave others worthless accounts that did not offer the same benefits as regular corporate accounts.

The company implemented the policy at its corporate telephone sales headquarters in Tulsa, Okla., under the code name “yeshiva,” the word for a Jewish religious school, the suit said.

Avis denied it intended to discriminate against Jews. The company’s “yeshiva” policy was an attempt to weed out unqualified drivers who were trying to circumvent age restrictions, Fuller said.

The company had learned that some college students were asking for corporate accounts for their yeshiva, he said.

Cendant Corp. owns the rights to the Avis brand name and licenses it to Garden City, N.Y.-based Avis Rent a Car.