Neither the Religious Freedom Restoration Act nor the First Amendment precludes a bankruptcy court from recovering a $55 million transfer of funds from the general accounts of Archdiocese of Milwaukee to a separate trust for the maintenance of Catholic cemeteries, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has held.  The Court has rejected a series of arguments from the Archbishop that the money had been set aside for perpetual care according to Canon Law.

An executor of the estate of a private foundation trustee has standing to discover materials about foundation operations when he claims he needs the information to estimate possible liability for foundation excise taxes, the Pennsylvania Superior Court has held.  This is true without regard to the long-standing family discord between the parties.  (In Re: Raymond G. Perelman Charitable Remainder Unitrust, Superior Ct., PA, No. 155 EDA 2014, 3/17/15.)

A criminal defendant ordered to perform community service in order to avoid conviction on minor charges is not an “employee” of the nonprofit or public agency for which the defendant works, and the labor is not covered by the wage and hour requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act, a federal court in New York has ruled.