On Friday, April 24th, the Jewish Voice received an e-mail from Daniel Blonsky, Esq, an attorney from the Coffey Burlington law firm in Miami, Florida. Mr. Blonsky is currently representing Magen David yeshiva in their own lawsuit against the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, for the defendants refusal to reimburse a deposit of over $2 million paid by Magen David to the hotel for reservations for Passover.
Due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, all vacation travel has been cancelled while the entire country is on lockdown.
Mr. Blonsky has informed the Jewish Voice that on Friday, he and two partners in his law firm of Coffey Burlington “filed a similar, class action lawsuit against Kosherica regarding its refusal to make full deposit refunds after cancelling Passover events last month.”
Plaintiff Milana Bachayev is filing this suit individually and on behalf of others against Kosherica and Bonaventure Passover, LLC and Kosherica, LCC for defendants refusal to reimburse fees paid for a 2020 Passover vacation. Again, the cancellation was due to government restrictions on travel and movement during the COVID-19 outbreak. Hotels in Florida have also been shuttered.
As the Jewish Voice previously reported Brooklyn’s Magen David Yeshiva had planned to spend their Passover holiday at the iconic Eden Roc hotel in South Beach, however the deadly pandemic that has been ravaging the world has prevented New Yorkers from leaving home.
Working with the tour operator, Elegant Travel, the school first booked a Passover trip in 2018, and followed up with another in 2019. Then, it signed a three-year contract to keep the event at the hotel.
Because of rapid spread of the Coronavirus, Magen David had no other option but to cancel the trip. Eden Roc, however is refusing to issue a refund to the school for its down payment of $2.3 million. The school had rented 621 rooms at the iconic hotel for 10 nights for their 1200 guests to enjoy all of the amenities that the hotel provided
Mr. Blonsky previously told the Jewish Voice that the contract agreed upon by Magen David, Elegant Travel and the Eden Roc includes a provision entitled “Force Majeure” which grants legal permission for the school to cancel the contract for a number of reasons, including but not limited to the outbreak of disease. The lawsuit reveals that the other matters include “acts of G-d, natural disasters, union strike, terrorist attacks in the city in which the hotel is located, or declared war on the United States.”
Moreover it includes the following: “In the event that the Force Majeure event causes Group (Magen David) to cancel the Event, all monies paid to the Hotel shall be returned to Group.”
The hotel is insisting the event be rescheduled or “proceed as scheduled with whomever was foolhardy enough to travel from New York to Miami Beach for the Passover 2020 event,” according Mr. Blonsky.
Attached here is the complaint filed by Mr, Blonsky and his two partners. CLICK HERE TO READ COMPLAINT
