In Ravan v. Talton, (11th Cir., Feb. 27, 2023), the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals held that plaintiff who is Jewish should have been able to move ahead with RLUIPA claims against a food service and 1st Amendment free exercise claims against two food service workers for denial of kosher meals on seven different occasions while he was in a county detention center. The court said in part:
[I]ndividual defendants argue that depriving Ravan of a handful of meals over a period of months doesn’t constitute an impermissible burden on his religion. But the number of missed meals is not necessarily determinative because being denied three Kosher meals in a row might be more substantial of a burden on religion being denied three meals in three months, and for a diabetic, the denial of one meal may be a substantial burden. And the record is (at best) muddled about the number and timing of Kosher meals that Ravan was denied....
But we reach a different conclusion as to Summit Food Service. To state a claim against Summit Food Service, Ravan had to plead that the company had a custom or policy of not providing Kosher meals, or acquiesced in or ratified its employees’ doing so..... Ravan has not done so...
[I]nstitutions that receive federal funding are liable for monetary damages for violating RLUIPA.... But individual defendants aren’t.... We therefore reverse the dismissal of Ravan’s claim against Summit Food Service and affirm the dismissal of Ravan’s claims against the individual defendants.
