An alleged violation of a local zoning ordinance is not sufficient to deny real estate tax exemption for a nonprofit low-income housing developer, an appellate court in New York has ruled.  A town’s claim that a property is used for an office and four separate residences when it is zoned only for a two family dwelling does not prove that the use is not charitable. 

Alumnae of Wilson College in Pennsylvania have no standing to contest the state Department of Education’s approval of the College’s decision to become co-educational, the state’s Commonwealth Court has ruled.  They have no personal interest that is affected by the Department’s decision, the Court said.

When the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts acquired substantially all of the assets of Printmaking Workshop, Inc., also a nonprofit corporation, the agreement provided that the foundation had no legal obligation to pay the past debts of the workshop, “but may elect to pay any vendors whose non-payment would provide obstacles to the operations of” a new printmaking workshop of the foundation. 

A member of an unincorporated nonprofit hunting club is not entitled to recover damages equal to his proportionate share of the value of the club after being expelled from membership, even where the bylaws of the association do not provide for expulsion.  An appellate court in Pennsylvania has affirmed a trial court decision granting the member, who was expelled pursuant to a procedure that was not “irregular or unreasonable,” only the amount his membership would sell for, as was the tradition on previous transfers.

An employee who claimed to have filed a complaint with the state Attorney General’s office cannot claim protection from firing as a whistleblower when the supervisor who terminated her employment was unaware that she had complained to the AG, an appellate court in Minnesota has held.

The Third Circuit Court of Appeals, claiming to be the first circuit to decide a question that has divided federal District Courts in recent years, has ruled that a church agency cannot establish a “church plan” for employee retirement purposes that is not covered by the terms of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”).