A largely dormant nonprofit corporation has been taken over by 60 new members who paid their $25 annual dues, called a special meeting of members, voted out the old board of directors and replaced them with a new slate of their own choosing.
The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has joined with the Third Circuit in holding that a retirement plan established and maintained by a church-affiliated hospital system is not within the statutory definition of a “church plan” exempt from the requirements of the Employment Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”). (See Nonprofit Issues, Employment Law, 2/16.)
The Supreme Court of Michigan has held that the state’s Whistleblower Protection Act does not protect an employee who is terminated because she reported a coworker’s plan to violate a law in the future. The “plain language” of the Act provides protection only against retaliation for a report of an act or conduct that has actually occurred or is ongoing, the Court said.
Does a Little League baseball team owe a duty to a parent-spectator who trips in a “divot” near the batting cage and breaks her leg? By a 4-1 vote, a majority of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island has said “no”. A single Justice has dissented.
A suit contesting an election at the Association of Philippine Physicians in America Foundation has been dismissed by a federal district court in Kentucky when the plaintiffs did not follow the procedures to bring a derivative action or allege current or future personal harm. (Pagtakhan-So v. Cueto, E.D. KY, No. 5:14-370, 2/16/16.)
A claim by 26 intestate heirs seeking to invalidate a $1.45 million family educational trust, which would make the money available to them, has been denied by an appellate court in Louisiana. The Court has held that the language of the will was sufficient to establish the trust. (Succession of Henderson, Ct. of App., LA, No. 50,475-CA, 2/24/16.)
Former income beneficiaries of a charitable remainder annuity trust who sold their entire interests to a for-profit company have no standing to sue the trust’s trustees and investment advisers for losses in trust value during the Great Recession, an appellate court in Nebraska has affirmed. The Court has upheld a trial court decision granting summary judgment to the trustees and advisers.
The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has ripped the Internal Revenue Service and Justice Department lawyers for failing to comply with a discovery order in the pending class action by Tea Party organizations contesting their treatment in the classification “scandal” several years ago. It has denied an IRS request for a writ of mandamus to overrule the District Court’s order to produce the “Be On the Lookout” lists of organizations allegedly targeted for unfavorable treatment because of their political beliefs.
