Boy Scouts May Sell Camp Held in 80-Year-Old Trust

Court says proceeds must be used for camping by local scout troops

In 1944, George G. Averill conveyed 330 acres of land in Kennebec County, ME, now known as Camp Bomazeen, to himself and others as trustees to be used as a camp for the Boy Scouts of America.  The deed allowed the trustees to sell any or all of the property with written consent of the local council of Boy Scouts and provided that the proceeds of the transaction “shall be used for the purposes and under the conditions” of the trust deed.

Tax Court denies deduction for facade easement

The Tax Court has denied a $23 million charitable contribution deduction for donation of an historic façade easement on a building that is not listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has not been certified by the Secretary of Interior as contributing importantly to the historic character of an historic district.

Court may resolve church property dispute

The Court of Appeals in North Carolina has overruled a trial court and held that the trial court has jurisdiction to resolve a dispute over who owns the church property when a local church asks to disaffiliate from the national denomination.  The trial court had declined to consider the case on the ground that the issue was an ecclesiastical matter from which a civil court was required to abstain.

No bias against man passed over for job he didn’t apply for

A man who applied for a job as a research project coordinator at the University of Maryland School of Medicine did not suffer from gender bias when he was passed over for the position and the School hired a woman for a lower paying and less technical job as a clinic coordinator for which he did not apply, the Appellate Court of Maryland has affirmed. 

Whistleblower law protects disclosure to wrongdoers

An appellate court in Oregon has reversed a trial court decision holding that complaints of wrongdoing disclosed to the managers doing wrong are not protected by the state’s whistleblower protection statute.   A trial court had held that an employee of a nonprofit irrigation district who had expressed concerns about mismanagement and violation of board policies and other rules and regulations to her managers had not made a proper “disclosure” to obtain protection of the law.  The Court of Appeals of Oregon has reversed.

EFO has apparent authority to bind nonprofit clinic

The Executive Finance Officer of a 501(c)(3) nonprofit health clinic has apparent authority to bind the clinic to the terms of a “Revenue Purchase Agreement” with a business funding group that paid the clinic for accounts receivable to be collected in the future.  A federal District Court in Philadelphia has denied the clinic’s request for a preliminary injunction to prevent the business funding group from executing on its agreement with the clinic.