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University May Have to Give Up Improper Gift from Trustee

Court allows beneficiary to sue to recover gift given without authority
An appellate court in Georgia has allowed a residual beneficiary of her mother’s trust to sue a University to recover a $1 million contribution allegedly given by the trustee without authority. It has affirmed a trial court decision refusing to dismiss the claim. ( Reinhardt University v. Castleberry, Ct. of App. GA, No. A12A1651, 11/8/12 .) When Joan Hasty Castleberry’s father died in 2003, he left money in several trusts for the benefit of his wife during her life, with the remainder to be divided among his three children. He named his son, William Hasty, Jr., as trustee. While the wife was still alive, Hasty, who was also a trustee of what was then known as Reinhardt College, pledged $1...

Tax Court denies another easement deduction

The Tax Court has denied another deduction for the gift of a conservation easement to a charitable land trust. The Court denied the deduction on the ground that the easement was not protected in perpetuity because an existing mortgage was not subordinate to the easement. The Court denied the deduction even though the bank subsequently agreed to a subordination agreement. The taxpayers gave the easement on their 74-acre property near Boise, Idaho, in September 2006. They did not originally claim the deduction on their 2006 tax return because they had not received a written appraisal of the value. They filed an amended return in December 2007, claiming a total deduction of $941,000, which...

Charity Bequests Not Adeemed By Gift of Stock Before Death

Court refuses to find “latent ambiguity” based on evidence produced in litigation
Family beneficiaries of the estate of Charles R. Walgreen, Jr. have been unable to convince two Illinois courts that gifts of 10,000 shares of stock in the Walgreen drugstore company designated to two Rotary Foundations in his will and trust were made before he died and should not be made out of shares in his estate. The courts have refused to find a “latent ambiguity” in his estate documents based on the evidence produced in the litigation. ( Koulogeorge v. Campbell, App. Cit. IL, First Dist., Fourth Div., No. 1-11-2812, 12/31/12 .)

Church Must Pay to Defend Foodbank Under Indemnification Clause

Church’s insurance does not cover contract to protect Foodbank against volunteer’s claim
A Los Angeles church has been ordered to pay $62,000 to the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank pursuant to the indemnification clause in the contract under which it obtained food to distribute to needy families. The Foodbank had spent that much in defending itself against a negligence claim bought by a volunteer for the Church who was injured while picking up food at the Foodbank’s warehouse. ( New Life in Christ Full Gospel Church v. Los Angeles Regional Food Bank , Ct. of App., CA, Second Dist., Div. 7, No. B232701, 12/27/12.)

Volunteer May Sue Nonprofits For Harassment Under Title VII

Court says that compensation is not necessary to be classified as “employee” under employment law
A federal District Court in Illinois has allowed a woman volunteer for two nonprofit emergency ambulance services to sue for sexual harassment and discrimination under the employee protection provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. The Court has rejected the defense that compensation is required to bring a worker within the employment discrimination protections of the Act. ( Volling v. Antioch Rescue Squad, N.D. IL, No. 11 C 04920, 12/4/12 .) Three women claimed “in disturbing factual detail” that they were subjected to sexual harassment, hostile work environment, sex discrimination and retaliation at the hands of co-workers and supervisors. Because one woman was an employee and...

Official May Warn Public Of High Fundraising Costs

Charity named as bad example has no claim for violation of Equal Protection Clause
A veterans' organization that uses telemarketing to raise funds for its programs has no constitutional claim against a public official who says he does not “support” organizations that use telemarking and urges donors to check their fundraising expenses before giving, even where the official singles out the charity as a negative example, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed. ( Middleborough Veterans’ Outreach Center v. Provencher, 1st Cir., No. 12-1347, 1/11/13 .) Paul Provencher, the Veterans’ Agent for the Town of Middleborough, MA, wrote letters to several local newspapers, advising area residents to exercise caution before donating to veterans’ charities that use telemarketing or direct solicitation and naming the Middleborough Veterans’ Outreach Center (“MVOC”) and another charity as two who did. The letter urged donors to give to charities that “will use all of your donation to help out the causes that are important to you.”

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