Not Kosher: Lufthansa Ordered to Pay $1,400 for Meal Mishap
RIO DE JANEIRO – The German airline Lufthansa was ordered to pay nearly $1,400 for “moral damage” to a Brazilian Jewish passenger for not serving the kosher food he had requested when booking his round-trip ticket between Sao Paulo and Zurich.
Passenger Isaac Kopfler, who was awarded the damages by a court in Sao Paulo on Monday, said he had to fast during the fourteen-hour flight between Switzerland and Brazil on March 21, 2012. His initial lawsuit requested about $5,000 in refunds and damages.
“The passenger has the right to receive what he paid for. It is a consumer relationship and, unlike what the airline claims, the non-existence of kosher food, despite having been requested in advance, is not an accessory matter,” read the court decision. The kosher meal “is of great importance and is based on religious principles.”
In a letter to the Exame news portal this week, Lufthansa apologized and committed to pay the damages.
Lufthansa said the flight was operated by SwissAir, which belongs to the Lufthansa Group, and the “technical problem” is uncommon. The food reportedly did not board the airplane with the catering service and therefore was not served. Other alternatives would have been offered to the passenger, who may be contacted to receive further compensation in mileage, according to the airline.
Brazil is home to some 120,000 Jews, half of whom live in Sao Paulo.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30