A federal District Court in Washington has abstained from a suit brought by a for-profit business that pays charities to help solicit used goods that the business resells for a profit. The business complained that the state Attorney General had violated its free speech rights under the Constitution by dictating its contractual relationship with the charities and mandating disclosure of its contractual payment terms.
“Boorish and insulting behavior” toward other members of the board of directors of a nonprofit corporation does not constitute sufficient grounds for judicial removal of the director under the Pennsylvania Nonprofit Corporation Law, the state Commonwealth Court has held. While calling the conduct “deplorable,” it said it does not constitute grounds for court intervention in the nonprofit’s governance.
The former board president of a nonprofit mental health clinic in Philadelphia has been ordered by a federal District Court to forfeit $2,041,750 in funds she improperly acquired from the Clinic for her personal benefit. She had previously been convicted on 53 counts of fraud, theft and false statements on tax returns for her various schemes.
Renee Tartaglione became the president of the Juniata Community Mental Health Clinic and engineered an elaborate scheme to siphon funds from the agency, which is spelled out in detail in the Court’s opinion.
The Rhode Island Supreme Court has refused to impose liability upon a community center for injuries suffered by individuals in an accident caused by the driver of a van stolen from the center’s parking lot. The Court has found that the center had no duty to those injured.
A child day care center providing pre-school, HeadStart, and after school programming has been denied real estate tax exemption in Pennsylvania. The Commonwealth Court has affirmed a trial court decision concluding that the 501(c)(3) organization should be subject to tax because its costs are fully covered by tuition payments and governmental subsidies, rather than private fundraising.
Unpaid members of a church who volunteer to help staff a church restaurant without the expectation of being paid are not considered employees subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has reversed a trial court decision ordering the church to pay more than $388,000 in damages.
The Tax Court has upheld an IRS denial of a charitable contribution deduction for a developer’s grant of a conservation easement on 125 acres it planned for a public park adjacent to its planned unit development. The developer had claimed a deduction of $1,798,000 for the easement.
