Three D.C. Court of Appeals judges did not come to an official decision at a hearing Tuesday on whether Rabbi Yehuda Steiner and his wife, Rivky, could continue to lead GW Chabad after they were fired last year.
In December, four months after the Steiners were fired from their roles at GW Chabad, a D.C. Superior Court judge decided the Steiners were banned from holding Chabad events on campus. Last week, a stay on that injunction allowed them to temporarily resume Chabad events until a final decision was made.
Senior Judge Vanessa Ruiz, Associate Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby and Associate Judge Stephen Glickman said Tuesday that the Steiners could continue to hold events while they wait for a final decision.
About 1,500 students, alumni and parents have signed a petition in support of the couple, and last week more than 100 students attended the first Shabbat dinner of the semester, hosted by the Steiners.
Rabbi Levi Shemtov had fired Yehuda Steiner for breaching his contract and failing to notify Shemtov in a timely manner about financial donations or GW Chabad activities.
Chancey Bratt, who represented Steiner, said the non-compete clause banning the couple from campus was “overbearing. The judges did not say at the hearing when they would come to a final decision.