New York Post reported this week on a lawsuit filed last month in a state trial court in Nassau County, New York by a kosher restaurant against the local kosher certifying agency that the restaurant used to hire. Last July, the restaurant, Chimichurri Charcoal Chicken, as well as two other establishments, switched from Vaad Hakashrus of the Five Towns and Far Rockaway to a rival, less expensive, certifying agency called Mehadrin of the Five Towns. This led the Vaad to issue a statement, alleged to be defamatory, criticizing Chimichurri's kosher food standards and urging residents not to eat there. The restaurant's lawsuit alleges:
The existing Vaad does not want competition, is afraid of the competition, and is trying to use its power to drive them — or attempt to drive them — out of business.
Chimichurri initially attempted to resolve the dispute in a rabbinical court, but the rabbis who head the Vaad did not show up for the hearing. This led the rabbinical court to grant unusual permission for Chimichurri to sue in secular court. The Vaad's lawyer told the New York Post:
Rabbis have an obligation and a right under the First Amendment to guide their communities with respect to religious issues and this does constitute a religious issue.
The Vaad has said that it has legitimate concerns about conflicts of interest.
