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Religious Institutions Exemptions

Husch Blackwell LLP

Fifth Circuit Holds That Religious Employers May Be Entitled to Exemptions from Title VII's LGBTQ+ Requirements

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In Braidwood Management, Inc. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that religious employers may be exempt from Title VII requirements concerning sexual...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

NLRB Judge’s Decision Tees Up Reconsideration of Test for Religious Exemption

On February 23, 2023, an administrative law judge for the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ruled that a Catholic university in Florida is exempt from the Board’s jurisdiction as a religious institution. But the case tees...more

Tonkon Torp LLP

New Laws Promote Affordable Housing Development

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This past summer, the Oregon Legislature passed two bills, which make it easier to build affordable housing in urban areas. Under SB 8, local governments are now required to allow affordable housing on non-residentially...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Separation of Church and State: The Application of the Ministerial Exception to Certain Employment Laws

It is common knowledge among many human resources professionals that religious organizations generally are protected from religious discrimination lawsuits under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and most state...more

Dickinson Wright

IRS Beginning to Send Affordable Care Act Notices to Religious Organizations

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According to statements made by the acting director of exempt organizations at the IRS, churches and other religious organizations will soon start to receive questions from the IRS about potential liabilities under the...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Federal Judges Halt Expanded Exemption From ACA Contraceptive Mandate

In back-to-back decisions, two federal district court judges have blocked implementation of a Trump administration rule that would exempt more employers from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requirement...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Tenth Circuit Answers Questions Left Open Following Supreme Court’s Advocate Health Network v. Stapleton Decision, Significantly...

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Seyfarth Synopsis: In Medina v. Catholic Health Initiatives, — F.3d —, 2017 WL 6459961 (10th Cir. Dec. 19, 2017), the Tenth Circuit held that a retirement plan sponsored by Catholic Health Initiatives (“CHI”), a...more

Dickinson Wright

High Court Unanimously Upholds ERISA Exemption For Church-Affiliated Pension Plans

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Advocate Health Care Network et al v. Stapleton et al, 581 U.S. __ (2017) - In one of the recent opinions rendered by the United States Supreme Court, it was found that pension plans maintained by religiously affiliated...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Supreme Court Clarifies Limits to ERISA Church Plan Exemption

On March 27, 2017, the then 8 Supreme Court Justices heard oral arguments for three consolidated cases regarding the outer bounds of the “church plan” exception under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974...more

Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP

Debt Dialogue: June 2017 - Supreme Court Holds Church-Affiliated Organizations Exempt From ERISA: A Prescription for the Ailing...

On June 5, 2017, the United States Supreme Court rendered an important decision that will impact restructurings — particularly health care provider restructurings — going forward. The Supreme Court reversed the Third, Seventh...more

FordHarrison

Supreme Court Decision Offers Some Relief to Church-Affiliated Nonprofits Using ERISA Church Plan Exemption

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Executive Summary: The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton serves as a reminder to church-affiliated hospitals and other organizations using the ERISA church plan exemption to review the...more

Locke Lord LLP

Church Plans Rejoice: The Supreme Court has Spoken

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Over 30 lawsuits have been filed over the past several years alleging that defined benefit plans maintained by religiously-affiliated hospital systems are not entitled to church plan status under the Employee Retirement...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

SCOTUS Church Plan Ruling Ends the Battle But Not the War: What Church-Affiliated Church Plan Sponsors Need to Know and Do Now

The Supreme Court of the United States has ruled that employee benefit plans sponsored by certain church-affiliated organizations do not have to be established by a church to be considered a “church plan,” which is exempt...more

Franczek P.C.

U.S. Supreme Court Finds that Retirement Plans Sponsored by Religious Hospitals Are Exempt from ERISA

Franczek P.C. on

The United States Supreme Court has ruled that retirement plans sponsored by church-affiliated organizations, such as hospitals, are exempt from ERISA. ERISA’s “church plan exemption” provides that a retirement plan that is...more

Clark Hill PLC

Supreme Court Unanimously Extends the "Church Plan" ERISA Exemption to Plans Originally Established by Non-Church Affiliates

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On June 5, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued an 8-0 decision (with new Justice Gorsuch not participating as this case was argued and decided prior to his joining the Court) holding that qualified retirement plans maintained...more

McGuireWoods LLP

ERISA ‘Church Plan’ Exemption Applies to Religiously Affiliated Hospital Plans

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In a victory for religiously affiliated hospitals sponsoring defined benefit (DB) plans, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on June 5 that such plans need not have been originally established by churches to be exempt from ERISA....more

Proskauer - Employee Benefits & Executive...

The United States Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Hospitals on “Church Plan” ERISA Exemption

The United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favor of religiously-affiliated hospitals and healthcare organizations in holding that a pension plan need not be established by a church in order to qualify for ERISA’s...more

Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP

ERISA Religious Exemption Expanded: SCOTUS Says Church Affiliation is Enough

In a sigh of relief for faith-based healthcare providers, on Monday, June 5th, the U.S. Supreme Court held, in a decision authored by Justice Elena Kagan, that the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s religious exemption...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Supreme Court Confirms Standards for ERISA’s Church Plan Exception

In a clear win for religiously-affiliated employers, including hospital systems and educational institutions, a unanimous Supreme Court found that a statutory exception to ERISA’s requirements for “church plans” applies to...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The Supreme Court’s Church Plan Decision

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court has held unanimously that a 1980 amendment to ERISA means that a pension benefit plan need not be established by a church in order to be exempt from ERISA rules, including most...more

Genova Burns LLC

High Court Agrees Pension Plans Sponsored by Church-Affiliated Hospitals Are ERISA-Exempt and Upholds Decades of IRS, PBGC and DOL...

Genova Burns LLC on

In a much-anticipated decision, on June 5 the U.S. Supreme Court held that a pension plan sponsored by a religious affiliated nonprofit hospital qualifies as an ERISA-exempt church plan even though the plan was not initially...more

Franczek P.C.

U.S. Supreme Court to Consider ERISA Church Plan Exemption

Franczek P.C. on

In a decision that may have profound consequences for the funding and continued operation of defined benefit retirement plans covering employees at religiously affiliated organizations, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided to...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

The Supreme Court’s New Church Plan Cases — How They Might Affect ERISA Litigation Generally

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Seyfarth Synopsis: The Supreme Court’s grant of certiorari in three Church Plan cases presents the possibility that many Church Plans thought for years to be exempt from ERISA rules, including its funding rules, will now have...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Watching SCOTUS – ERISA Church-Plan Exemption Revisited

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Seyfarth Synopsis: Currently before the Supreme Court are two petitions regarding the thorny legal question of which organizations can qualify for ERISA’s Church-plan exemption. If the Supreme Court grants certiorari and...more

Holland & Knight LLP

Religious Institutions Update: August 2016

Holland & Knight LLP on

When was the last time your organization reviewed your insurance policies? Not all policies are equal. Many religious organizations are underinsured. Most should have general liability, property, professional liability,...more

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