Monthly Archives for July 2010

The Satmar Saga Continues

In yet another Satmar lawsuit, this one involving control of the cemetary where the previous Rebbe is buried, Justice Victor J. Alfieri ruled that the parties are required to arbitrate the dispute before a Bais Din (Beth Din). The judge based his decision on a provision in the Congregation’s bylaws stating that “a member of the Congregation shall [or "must", depending on the varying interpretations from the Yiddish] be expelled if that member declines to appear before a Rabbinical Court [alternatively, "submit to a Din Torah"].”

The Court stated that “since the Congregation’s bylaws are a secular corporate document adopted by its members pursuant to New York State law,this Court finds that the Congregation and its members adopted the Rabbinical Court, i.e., the Din Torah (Rabbinical Court proceeding) as the alternative dispute resolution between and among members of its congregation. As such, this Court finds that the parties are required to arbitrate the within action before the Rabbinical Court. ” A copy of the decision is available here.

I am not sure that the judge realizes the implications of this decision. As I understand it, this means that any individuals who consider themseleves members of the Satmar congregation are legally obligated to arbitrate every dispute, even those not involving control of the Congregation or its assets. If, for example, two Satmar individuals have a business dispute and one of them sues in court, the court could compel arbitration instead. Am I reading this wrong?

Settlement reached in case involving Portrait of Wally, a painting stolen from Austrian Jewish dealer in 1930′s

It’s good to see that some property rights of Holocaust victims are not deemed preempted by foreign policy agreements. According to a press release by the law firm Herrick, a settlement was reached in the case involving Portrait of Wally, a painting by Egon Schiele that was stolen in the late 1930′s from Lea Bondi Jaray, a Jewish art dealer in Vienna. The painting was later acquired by the Leopold Museum in Vienna, but was made subject to court proceedings in New York in 1997 when it was loaned to the Museum of Modern Art.

According to the press release, the terms of the settlement are as follows:

(a) the Leopold Museum pays the Estate $19 Million;

(b) the Estate releases its claim to the Painting;

(c) the United States Government dismisses the civil forfeiture action it brought against the Leopold Museum and releases the Painting to the Leopold Museum;

(d) the Leopold Museum will permanently display signage next to the Painting at the Leopold Museum, and at all future displays of the Painting of any kind that the Leopold Museum authorizes or allows anywhere in the world, that sets forth the true provenance of the Painting, including Lea Bondi Jaray’s prior ownership of the Painting and its theft from her by a Nazi agent before she fled to London in 1939; and

(e) before it is transported to the Leopold Museum in Vienna, the Painting will be publicly exhibited at the Museum of Jewish Heritage — A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, in New York, beginning with a ceremony commemorating the legacy of Lea Bondi Jaray and the successful resolution of the lawsuit.

Jewish opposition to the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2010

When is a contract not a contract?

JTA reports today that six Jewish organizations have signed a letter opposing the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2010.

The American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B’nai B’rith International, the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, the World Jewish Congress and the World Jewish Restitution Organization condemned the Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2010 in a recent letter to Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), chairman of the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee.

The bill would allow Holocaust survivors to sue insurance companies in U.S. courts for unpaid Holocaust-era policies. Claimants previously had to go through the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, which shut down in 2007.

A number of Florida-based Holocaust survivor groups, backed by some state lawmakers and insurance commissioners, say ICHEIC was fatally flawed, unduly deferential to the insurers and paid out only a tiny percentage of liable claims. ICHEIC officials have said that the process was as pliant as the law would allow.

The letter from the Jewish groups said that the bill would harm negotiations with Germany, which contributes hundreds of millions of dollars for survivors living in poverty, by reopening previously settled agreements.

“Many survivors wouldn’t receive anything in their lifetime” if the bill were to pass, said Roman Kent, a representative for the Claims Conference. “If I go to court, it will take 10 to 15 years to get anything. So what practical effect would the bill have?”

Proponents of the bill say that Germany’s commitment to reparation payouts is ironclad in the law and would not be affected by reopening the ICHEIC process.

The full JTA article can be read here.

Elena Kagan and Arlen Specter on Holocaust era insurance claims

Solicitor General Elena Kagan says she doesn’t want to count her chickens. Senator Arlen Specter says he is one of her chickens.

The issue was how Kagan, if confirmed to the Supreme Court, would vote on a petition requesting that the Court hear an appeal from a decision by the Second Circuit which held that Holocaust era insurance lawsuits were preempted by Executive branch foreign policy. Specter is clearly of the opinion that Holocaust survivors should have their day in court. Kagan ducked the question, claiming that as Solicitor General, her job would likely entail opposing a petition for certiorari by the Supreme Court in the very case discussed by Specter. Video of the exchange is below.

Legislation has been introduced in the House that would allow lawsuits against insurance companies based on state law to go forward (see H.R. 4596, “Holocaust Insurance Accountability Act of 2010″). Our previous posts on the subject can be read here and here.

Hat tip: HSF