Employee may proceed with FMLA retaliation, ADA claims

An employee of a nonprofit continuing care community has been allowed to proceed with claims for retaliation for seeking family medical leave and disability discrimination.  A federal District Court in Pennsylvania has denied the employer’s motion to dismiss.

Donors denied deduction for $145,000 in clothing and furniture

The donors claimed $145,250 in charitable contribution deductions for gifts of clothing and household goods to Goodwill Industries in 2011.  They allegedly gave (among other things) 1040 items of boys’ clothing, 811 items of girls’ clothing, 658 items of men’s clothing, and 945 items of women’s clothing, plus 115 chairs, 36 lamps, 22 bookshelves, 20 desks, 20 chests of drawers, 16 bedframes, 14 filing cabinets, and 3153 books.

Ping pong club not exempt from real estate tax

A 501(c)(3) ping pong club is not exempt from real estate tax as a charitable organization, a Magistrate of the Oregon Tax Court, has ruled.  He has held that the club did not meet the state’s definition of a charity.

Diocese Denied Bequest When Church School Had Closed

Divided NY Court says donor had intended a specific gift and did not show general charitable intent to invoke cy pres

An appellate court in New York has affirmed a Surrogate Court decision that a donor making a charitable bequest from her living trust intended to benefit a specific Catholic school that had been closed for several years and did not show a general charitable intent which would justify invoking the cy pres doctrine to divert the gift to the Catholic Diocese.  The Court, by a vote of 4-1, has affirmed a Surrogate Court decision dividing the gift between two other residuary beneficiaries of the trust.

$33 million deduction lost for failure to report basis

The failure to list the cost basis of a remainder interest in real estate on the Form 8283 claiming a charitable contribution deduction has caused the Tax Court to disallow entirely a claimed deduction of more than $33 million.  The Court has strictly interpreted the substantiation requirements without directly having to challenge the valuation.

Failure to disclose illness destroys disability claim

An executive director’s failure to disclose his Parkinson’s disease to his board of directors before the final phase of his termination process has lost a claim for wrongful termination on the basis of disability.  A federal District Court in Ohio has dismissed the case on summary judgment.