The Supreme Court of Washington has dismissed a group of claims brought by the state for violation of state consumer protection law by a for-profit thrift store operator that advertised its payments to “charity partners” for contributions to the thrift store operation.  The Court has refused to apply the standard for liability usually applicable to “commercial” speech to determine whether a fraud had occurred and found that the claims do not survive the “strict scrutiny” applied to charitable solicitation.

A Pennsylvania appellate court has denied charitable real estate tax exemption for four hospitals in a reginal nonprofit hospital system on the ground that they did not qualify under the state’s definition of “charitable.”  It affirmed three decisions from one county and reversed a decision from another.

The state Commonwealth Court has found that four hospitals in the Tower Health system in suburban Philadelphia did not operate free from private profit motive and did not provide a sufficient amount of below cost care to its patients.

An individual who serves as on-site supervisor and inspector to ensure that a food service establishment is acceptably kosher under the Jewish religion is a “minister” excluded from protection of state employment law, a federal District Court in California has ruled. 

A nonprofit youth services organization that acquired employees and programs from a related nonprofit is responsible for unpaid unemployment compensation contributions incurred by the related organization that had ceased its activities, an appellate court in Pennsylvania has ruled. The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court has affirmed a decision by the Department of Labor and Industry that the successor organization owes nearly $300,000 in contributions, interest and penalties.

A corporation sole that had been administratively dissolved in Oregon for failure to file its annual report may be reinstated to active status even though the state outlawed the formation of new corporations sole in 2015.  The Court of Appeals of Oregon has overturned a ruling by the Secretary of State denying reinstatement to The House of R.E.A.P, a church.

A sports psychologist who has a contract with a university to provide services to student athletes has standing to sue the university for retaliation under the anti-discrimination provisions of Title IX when the university has stopped referring students to her after she reported incidents of abuse.  A federal District Court in Illinois has ruled that she is within the “zone-of-interests” to be protected by the statute.