K A S H R U T . C O M_©

January 2, 2025 from Matzav.com:

"A U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday that the Orthodox Union is protected from a wage complaint lawsuit filed by a former mashgiach under the First Amendment’s ministerial exception.

"Yaakov Markel, a former inspector employed by the Orthodox Union to oversee grape production at two wineries, quit his position in 2018. He filed a lawsuit accusing the OU and his supervisor, Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz, of withholding a promotion and overtime wages.

"The San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the country’s largest, upheld a lower court ruling, which stated that a legal doctrine known as the ministerial exception, which bars lawsuits against religious organizations by workers with religious duties, applies to Markel’s case and therefore protects the OU from his claim.

"In the court’s majority opinion, judge Ryan Nelson wrote that “because only observant Orthodox Jews can serve as a mashgiach for the OU, and because they are necessary to carrying out OU’s religious mission of ensuring the wide availability of kosher food, a mashgiach is a minister for purposes of the ministerial exception.”

"'Failure to apply the ministerial exception to a mashgiach would denigrate the importance of keeping kosher to Orthodox Judaism,' he added.

"The Orthodox Union told JNS that it welcomes the ruling.

"Avrom Pollak, the president of Star-K, an Orthodox kosher certifier in Baltimore, told JNS that the court’s decision affirms the religious role of a mashgiach."