Synagogue Board Improperly Denied Congregational Vote On Rabbi's Retention

In Kamchi v. Weissman, (NY App., Dec. 31, 2014), a New York state appellate court interpreted the provisions of New York's Religious Corporation Law that apply to synagogues as giving wide authority to the congregational membership.  At issue was the synagogue Board of Trustee's refusal to permit a congregation-wide vote on renewal or extension of the rabbi's employment contract after the Board decided not to extend or renew it.  Members of the congregation and its ousted rabbi sued seeking a declaratory judgement that their rights had been violated and damages for tortious interference with prospective economic relations and defamation. The court held that the the congregation's authority is governed by NYRCL Sec. 200 that provides:

A corporate meeting of an incorporated church, whose trustees are elective as such, may give directions, not inconsistent with law, as to the manner in which any of the temporal affairs of the church shall be administered by the trustees thereof; and such directions shall be followed by the trustees. The trustees of an incorporated church to which this article is applicable, shall have no power to settle or remove or fix the salary of the minister....

The court held that the Board,  by refusing to allow the Congregation to act, usurped the Congregation’s authority. It also held that the trial court should not have dismissed the rabbi's defamation claim. [Thanks to Jeff Pasek for the lead.]

NY Jewish Group Can Proceed With Challenge To Validity of Mortgage Because Court Approval Was Required

Mosdos Chofetz Chaim, Inc. v. RBS Citizens, N.A., (SD NY, March 30, 2014) is a 61-page opinion growing out of a suit by an Orthodox Jewish religious group that encountered hurdles in its attempt to build an adult religious studies Kollel building along with family housing for Kollel students on a parcel of land in Ramapo, New York.  The events are part of the tension in recent years over the movement of increasing numbers of Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families to Ramapo and areas around it in Rockland County. (See prior posting.)

Originally the Kollel project was financed by RBS Citizens, but it sold the note and mortgage to Avon which eventually foreclosed on the mortgage.  Among the 17 causes of action against three groups of defendants is a claim that the foreclosure was commenced because a principal of Avon, Abraham Grunwald, disapproved of the religious lifestyle and education of the Mosdos Kollel students and wanted to close down the Kollel and replace it with an institution consistent with Grunwald’s own religious values. The complaint also alleges that an agent of Avon and Grunwald  engaged in a campaign to injure Mosdos by calling its students to tell them that the school would be shut down, and urging donors not to donate because the school is not viable.

The court dismissed abuse of process and slander claims against the Avon defendants.  But it did allow Mosdos to move forward with its claim that the mortgage agreement that was foreclosed upon is invalid because under Sec. 12(1)  of New York's Religious Corporation Law the mortgage requires prior court approval. (See prior related posting.)