Lead Stories

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a trial court has no authority to reduce the penalties imposed by the Internal Revenue Service upon nonprofit organizations for filing their Form 990 tax information returns late.  It has reversed a federal District Court decision granting a 75% reduction in the penalties assessed against the Service Employees International Union and a subsidiary.  (Service Employees International Union v. U.S., No. 08-16105, 3/17/10.)

A director of a nonprofit summer camp has been denied a claim for nearly $1 million in advances made to keep the camp operating before it went into bankruptcy.  A Bankruptcy Court in Pennsylvania has held that almost all of the transfers were donations and not loans, and that they were made without authority from the board.  (In Re: Machne Menachem, Bkrptcy. Ct., M.D. PA, No. 5-01-bk-04926, 3/4/10.)

A homeowners insurance policy does not provide coverage to the owners of a farm used for a nonprofit animal sanctuary and for-profit entertainment business when a sanctuary volunteer is mauled to death by a rescued tiger during a photo shoot for her high school yearbook photo, according to the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.  The Court has affirmed a Kansas District Court decision denying coverage to the owners of the farm. 

An appellate Court in California has affirmed a trial court decision ordering a Sikh Temple to disclose directors’ names, addresses and other contact information to a member of the board who sought the information so that he could contact his colleagues about Temple business.  The Court rejected the Temple’s argument that it could not be forced to divulge such “private” information without the consent of the individuals involved.  (Pamma v. Sikh Temple, Gurdwara, Yuba City, Inc., Ct. of App. CA, Third App. Dist., No. C062361, 4/7/10.)

A federal District Court in Wisconsin has dismissed a suit by a local Girl Scout council seeking to prevent the national Girl Scout organization from forcing a realignment of the local council as part of a national reorganization effort. 

What does a charity do when the value of a bequest grows so large that the income substantially exceeds the amount the charity wants to spend for the purpose of the gift? 

If it is Columbia University with an endowed Chair in Clinical Medicine that throws off more income than the University normally applies to an endowed professorship, it asks the surrogate’s court to allow it to divide the fund to permit the creation of additional professorships.  The Surrogate’s Court in Nassau County, NY, has recently approved such an application.