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Sabbath Wins in Cohen v. Seinfeld Ruling
Arutz 7 ^ | Jan 17, '07 | Ezra HaLevi

Posted on 01/17/2007 8:50:22 AM PST by Nachum

American Jewish comedian Jerry Seinfeld was ordered by the court to pay a Sabbath-observant realtor her fee, which he withheld due to her not having answered her phone on Saturday.

The realtor, Tamara Cohen, was unavailable when Seinfeld tried to reach her on a Saturday in February, 2005, according to the New York Post. The comedian and star of the highly successful sitcom bearing his name wanted to see a luxury apartment on 82nd street but could not get in touch with Cohen.

Seinfeld’s estate manager had visited the apartment with Cohen in January 2005, when the listing broker for the townhouse agreed to co-broke the house with her. On Friday, February 11, the estate manager and Seinfeld’s wife Jessica were shown the property by Cohen again. The next day, after Cohen did not answer her cell phone due to it being the Sabbath, the Seinfelds visited the apartment on their own, buying the home for $3.95 million without a broker.

Seinfeld testified that Cohen did not deserve the payment as she had been unavailable when he and his wife wanted to see the home. Both Seinfelds said they had not known the reason Cohen did not return their calls was that she was a Sabbath-observant Jew.

New York State Supreme Court justice Rolando Acosta ruled that the Seinfelds must pay Cohen at least $98,000 for her role as co-broker – a ruling that is seen as a positive defense of religious worship for Sabbath observers.

Acosta said that notwithstanding Cohen's failure to immediately return the Seinfelds' calls, "[T]he evidence clearly indicates that she served as the Seinfelds' real estate broker."

"The only real issue here . . . is whether the broker's fee was 5 or 6 percent," Acosta said, meaning Cohen may get as much as $118,500.

Richard Menaker of Menaker & Hermann, the law firm that represented the Seinfelds, said he intends to move to re-argue. "Not a single one of the [six] arguments we made was addressed," Menaker said, according to Law.com. "At the oral argument I pointed out that Ms. Cohen is not licensed. You can only recover on an oral agreement if you're a licensed real-estate broker," he added. Cohen’s lawyer said that she is in fact licensed and that the court apparently agreed.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: cohen; sabbath; seinfeld; wins
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To: Long Island Pete

It's not like he wasn't notified about the custom eh?!


21 posted on 01/17/2007 9:06:15 AM PST by muawiyah
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To: Cicero

Maybe Seinfeld purposely did this to try to avoid paying her. Maybe he did know she was an observant Jew. Don't you think this woman would have told him (if she didn't she's an idiot) or any client since most people will look on a Saturday? And why did Seinfeld feel the urgent need to go see the place again? He couldn't have waited a day? Something isn't kosher about how this went down.


22 posted on 01/17/2007 9:07:00 AM PST by MAD-AS-HELL (How does one win over terrorists? KILL them with UNKINDNESS)
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To: pollyannaish
This begs the question: When did it become acceptable to expect everyone to be at your beck and call every hour of the day or they don't get paid?

Bingo. If she had just been out of town for the day or otherwise unavailable, he would have had no argument that he didn't owe the commission. She had shown them the apartment.

23 posted on 01/17/2007 9:07:10 AM PST by lady lawyer
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To: Nachum
hg
a ruling that is seen as a positive defense of religious worship for Sabbath observers

Well, I don't know about that. I think it's more a case of the agent showing the property to Seinfeld's estate manager, then showing it again a few days later to this same estate manager and Seinfeld's wife. 

 

24 posted on 01/17/2007 9:08:52 AM PST by HawaiianGecko (Victory goes to the player who makes the next-to-last mistake.)
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To: Nachum

Jerry's just gathering material for next season's episodes.


25 posted on 01/17/2007 9:09:38 AM PST by Revolting cat! (We all need someone we can bleed on...)
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To: rawhide

He probably makes $98,000 a day in royalties.


26 posted on 01/17/2007 9:10:07 AM PST by Moonman62 (The issue of whether cheap labor makes America great should have been settled by the Civil War.)
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To: Nachum

Seinfeld should have hired "Jackie Chiles" to represent him ;)


27 posted on 01/17/2007 9:12:03 AM PST by timsbella (Mark Steyn for Prime Minister of Canada! (Steve's won my vote in the meantime))
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To: Nachum

I never liked Seinfeld.


28 posted on 01/17/2007 9:12:16 AM PST by Alouette (Learned Mother of Zion)
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To: RabidBartender

>>Not answering the phone on the Sabbath?

What's that all about?<<

This isn't about the Sabbath.

What if a real estate agent was in the ER with a child and forgot their phone. What if their battery died, what if...

If either the buyer or seller has a signed agency contract with a broker, and the broker shows the property, they are entitled to the commission barring ineptitude or corruption or other "extraordinary" circumstances.

The owner and Seinfeld were basically trying to perform a commissiondectomy - a common practice as dollar amounts increase.

If there was a written acency contract, this was an open and shut case, and Seinfelds excuse was lame.

This has NOTHING to do with the REASON the agent was not available.


29 posted on 01/17/2007 9:13:29 AM PST by RobRoy (Islam is a greater threat to the world today than Nazism was in 1938.)
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To: lady lawyer
It is definitely getting harder to maintain a reasonable working schedule these days. A few years ago when I was working from home, I had a client who started calling me on weekends and up until midnight during the week. When I tried to explain there was some time that was off limits, she screamed at me and started "dropping by" to see me.

Needless to say, she was "referred" to someone who could better meet her needs. That there was someone out there willing to do so completely stunned me.

Silly me...I still want a life outside of work!
30 posted on 01/17/2007 9:13:30 AM PST by pollyannaish
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To: Nachum
As long as it was clearly spelled out in the contract he signed that this agent wouldn't be available at all on Saturdays (which she would have been within her rights to stipulate) then I think Seinfeld was wrong.

However,if it *wasn't* spelled out in the contract then I think Seinfeld was justified in expecting her to try to accede to his wishes regarding a Saturday showing.

31 posted on 01/17/2007 9:13:46 AM PST by Gay State Conservative ("The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism."-Karl Marx)
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To: Gay State Conservative

How would she even be aware of his wishes?


32 posted on 01/17/2007 9:16:44 AM PST by Sloth (The GOP is to DemonRats in politics as Michael Jackson is to Jeffrey Dahmer in babysitting.)
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This may be but at least he did not go off into an expletive ridden tirade like Richards his old co star did in November.


33 posted on 01/17/2007 9:18:39 AM PST by Republic_of_Secession.
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To: Borges

Well, that's why it needs to be a partner.

You trade off, and it will even out.


34 posted on 01/17/2007 9:21:09 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: pollyannaish

"This begs the question: When did it become acceptable to expect everyone to be at your beck and call every hour of the day or they don't get paid?"

Actually, this is what the ruling should have been based upon. As it stands, it is setting a very dangerous precedent.

Be careful what you ask for. You just might get it.


35 posted on 01/17/2007 9:21:13 AM PST by sageb1 (This is the Final Crusade. There are only 2 sides. Pick one.)
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To: Long Island Pete

"A Jew doesnt know Jewish tradition?"

Well, Nancy Pelosi claims to be an observant Roman Catholic, and yet supports abortion, gay marriage, and general hedonism and sin.

Your point? :)


36 posted on 01/17/2007 9:22:54 AM PST by MeanWestTexan (Kol Hakavod Lezahal)
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To: Revolting cat!
Jerry's just gathering material for next season's episodes.

If you're refering to the TV sitcom "Seinfeld" it ended in 1998 I believe.
37 posted on 01/17/2007 9:23:04 AM PST by Proverbs 3-5
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To: Nachum
Jerry Seinfeld was ordered by the court to pay a Sabbath-observant realtor her fee,

Jerry belongs to the synagogue of haSatan.
b'shem Yah'shua
38 posted on 01/17/2007 9:23:06 AM PST by Uri’el-2012 (Psalm 144:1 Praise be to YHvH, my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.)
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To: Sloth
How would she even be aware of his wishes?

You spell it out at the very beginning.The agent informs the prospective client that he/she doesn't work on Saturday. The client either agrees to this stipulation or he doesn't.

If he doesn't they try to reach a compromise or the client goes elsewhere.I *am* surprised,however,by a real estate agent refusing to work on either a Saturday or a Sunday given that these two days are the ones that buyers are most likely to utilize for viewing properties.

39 posted on 01/17/2007 9:24:12 AM PST by Gay State Conservative ("The meaning of peace is the absence of opposition to socialism."-Karl Marx)
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To: Tanniker Smith; MeanWestTexan; RobRoy

Sorry - never really been a fan of Seinfeld, I was just making fun of his throwing topics out there, and then saying "What's that all about?"

I remember Joe Lieberman had similar restrictions.


40 posted on 01/17/2007 9:25:39 AM PST by RabidBartender
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