Court Can’t Resolve Dispute Stemming from Rabbis’ Condemning Use of Competing Kosher Certifier
From Nassau County (N.Y.) Justice Randy Sue Marber’s decision last week in Chimichurri Chicken Corp. v. Vaad Hakashrus of the Five Towns Far Rockaway (see also this New York Post [Lisa Fickenscher] article about the filing of the lawsuit):
The Plaintiff operates a restaurant in Cedarhurst, Nassau County, called “Chimichurri Charcoal Chicken.” The Defendant is a New York State Religious Corporation also located in Cedarhurst. The Defendant was founded to certify, according to its standards, retail companies and commercial companies that cater to the Jewish consumer within the area of Long Island colloquially known as the “Five Towns,” which includes Cedarhurst, as Kosher.
According to the Complaint, Plaintiff, beginning in or about November 2015, was awarded and thereafter maintained a Kosher Certification from the Defendant, reflecting Plaintiff’s compliance with Kosher standards developed by Defendant. Defendant provided Plaintiff with this Kosher Certification in exchange for a fee. On or about July 5, 2020, Plaintiff sent a letter to Defendant stating that it would no longer be using it for Kosher Certification, electing instead to use a newly formed entity, non-party Mehadrin of the Five Towns ….
Plaintiff’s rationale in switching Kosher certifiers was that Defendant only provided Kosher certifications for Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews. Plaintiff had noticed that there was an influx, into the Five Towns area, of Spanish/Portuguese Sephardic Orthodox Jews. Plaintiff wished its Kosher certification to be accepted by as many potential customers as possible, so it switched to Mehadrin, which provided Kosher certifications for Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.
Following the Plaintiff’s termination of its relationship with the Defendant, Defendant published … a letter dated July 9, 2020 … from 53 Rabbonim (Rabbis) addressed to the Five Towns and Far Rockaway community, which reads as follows:
To our Beloved Five Towns and Far Rockaway Community:
Our community is very unique in that we have a hashgocha {a kosher supervising agency} where the kashrus [kosher law] professionals work under the auspices of the community Rabbonim. In the day to day running of our Vaad, the kashrus professionals answer to a rotating board of communit
Article from Reason.com
