Judge Tosses Hebrew National Kosher Class Action Lawsuit

A federal judge yesterday dismissed a class action lawsuit claiming ConAgra Foods deceptively sells Hebrew National meat products as kosher, saying the First Amendment bars the court from deciding religious subject matters.

Consumers sued ConAgra last year claiming the meat processing services ConAgra used did not meet the standards necessary to label Hebrew National products as kosher. As a result, ConAgra misled consumers and was able to charge them premium prices, according to the class action lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Donovan W. Frank granted ConAgra’s motion to dismiss the Hebrew National kosher class action lawsuit based on its argument that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to rule in this case.

“The First Amendment ‘severely circumscribes’ the role that civil courts may play in resolving disputes touching on matters of faith,” ConAgra said in its motion. “As such, Supreme Court precedent has firmly established the principle that civil courts may not be called upon to interpret doctrinal matters or tenets of faith.”

Judge Frank agreed saying, “The definition of the word ‘kosher’ is intrinsically religious in nature, and this court may not entertain a lawsuit that will require it to evaluate the veracity of defendant’s representations that its Hebrew National products meet any such religious standard. Because all of plaintiffs’ claims derive from defendant’s alleged misrepresentation that its Hebrew National products are ‘100 percent kosher,’ all counts of the amended complaint are barred by the First Amendment.”

Also at issue in the Hebrew National class action lawsuit was the method of cattle slaughter ConAgra used, which plaintiffs claimed violated the laws of Kashrut, or kosher slaughter.

Judge Frank ruled that both Kashrut and the determination of whether a product is kosher are religious in nature, and a court review of the rabbinical group that certified Hebrew National products as kosher would inhibit the group’s religious freedom.

“Regrettably, however, the court recognizes that its decision likely leaves consumers without a remedy — save opting not to purchase or ingest Defendant’s Hebrew National products, or other products certified by Triangle K — should the allegations in the amended complaint prove true,” Judge Frank said. “Nevertheless, whether such products are indeed ‘100 percent kosher’ is a religious question that is not the proper subject of inquiry by this court.”

The ConAgra Hebrew National Class Action Lawsuit case is Wallace, et al. v. ConAgra Foods, Inc., Case No. 12-01354, U.S. District Court, District of Minnesota.

UPDATE: On Oct. 6, 2014, a Minnesota judge dismissed the Hebrew National class action lawsuit after finding that courts are constitutionally barred from ruling on fundamentally religious questions.