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"All jobs should be open to all that can perform the work safely. Not by race gender religion or sex," wrote one man of the sign, which appeared on the front door of NY Gyro King on Bloomfield Avenue.
Others spoke in a similar vein, while some commenters, assuming the employers' restriction was religious in nature, defended them.
"The workers are Muslim, you are not allowed to mix males with females unless they are family members. Please don’t be willfully ignorant," said one person.
One of the business's owners, however, said religion had nothing to do with it.
The job requires lifting boxes of ingredients "weighing 25, 50 lbs," said Munir Ahmad. Ahmad said he worried female applicants would not be up to the job physically.
"I don't want to train somebody if they are not going to be happy here."
But Ahmad had also become aware of the controversy by the time Daily Voice spoke to him on Monday and said he decided to change the sign.
"If a woman can handle it, I'll have no problem," he said.
The state's Law Against Discrimination "prohibits unlawful employment discrimination based on an individual's race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy)", among other groups.
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