A volunteer coach of a high school football team may be sued for damages following the death of a player after he had suffered a concussion.  The Supreme Court of Washington has reversed both a trial court and an appellate court in holding that a new state law mandating precautions after a player suffers a concussion implied a private right of action, and in holding that the coach was not protected by the state’s volunteer protection law because the family pled facts that could be considered gross negligence or recklessness.

From 2011 to 2015, Mastercard International advertised nationally that it would donate a penny to Stand Up to Cancer for each credit or debit card transaction of at least $10 in a U.S. restaurant, up to a specified end date or whenever Mastercard reached its $4 million maximum donation limit. 

The Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals has agreed with decisions in the Ninth and Tenth Circuits and has held that the grant of a conservation easement is not eligible for a charitable contribution deduction when the underlying property is subject to a mortgage that has not been subordinated to the easement.  As a result, RP Golf, LLC, the owner of two private golf clubs in Missouri, has lost its claim for a $16.4 million deduction.

A donor’s right to direct title of an historic theater to an organization other than the 501(c)(3) charitable recipient of a bargain sale invalidates the gift and is grounds to deny a claim for a $3 million charitable contribution deduction, the Tax Court has held.

The Supreme Court has ended years of confusion among religious organizations by ruling that an employee pension plan established by religiously affiliated organizations is considered a “church plan” and not covered by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).  Several Courts of Appeals had previously ruled that such plans would be subject to more protective ERISA requirements if not established directly by a church.  (See Nonprofit Issues, March 2016.)