Hindus can sue US eatery for serving them meat
Wednesday, 20 July 2011 12:31
Edison (New Jersey): A group of Hindu residents can sue an Edison restaurant for money to travel to India, where they say they must purify their souls after eating meat, a state appellate court panel ruled on Monday. The decision by the three-judge panel reinstates a lawsuit filed against Moghul Express, the restaurant that admitted it accidentally served meat-filled pastries to 16 Hindus whose religion forbids them from eating nonvegetarian food.
The diners said the mix-up has harmed them spiritually and monetarily, and that to cleanse themselves of their sin — even though it was committed unknowingly — they must participate in a purification ritual in India’s Ganges River. "If you follow the scripttures, it’s definitely a huge cost," said Mehul Thakkar, a spokesman for the Yogi Divine Society in Lake Hiawatha, a nonprofit socio-religious organization that adheres to the principles of the Swaminarayan faith of Hinduism. "If they are very strict about it, there definitely is a fee involved."
Thakkar, whose organization is not involved in the suit, declined to comment on the decision issued by Judges Dorothea Wefing, Edith Payne and Margaret Hayden. He said the purification ceremony can last from three to 30 days, and that the cost of the trip, which can add up to thousands of dollars, is based on how much a participant can afford.
Pradip (Peter) Kothari, president of the Indo-American Cultural Society in Edison, said he was unaware of the lawsuit but said he thought it should have been dismissed. "This is a hypocrisy of religion and a hypocrisy of the law," said Kothari, who conceded that he does not strictly observe the Hindu religion. "They can go to a temple here and ask God for forgiveness. God is not going to punish you for doing something unknowingly."
For an India Day celebration in Edison on August 10, 2009, the group placed an order for vegetarian samosas. The restaurant assured them it didn’t make the pastries with meat. Indeed, there was no meat-filled samosa on the restaurant’s appetizer menu, and the court’s decision said the tray of pastries given to the group was labeled vegetarian. But soon after eating a few samosas, some in the group grew concerned the pastries might contain meat. According to the decision, the restaurant eventually acknowledged it had confused the order with one for meat-filled samosas and gave the group the non-vegetarian pastries.
The diners sued in Superior Court, alleging negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress, consumer fraud, products liability and breach of express warranty. But the judge dismissed the allegations last year, and the diners appealed. The appellate panel said on Monday that the case could still go forward as breach of express warranty claim because of the restaurant’s assurance that the group was getting vegetarian samosas.
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