When the governing body of The Islamic Society of Essex County (NJ) decided to sell the building where it had provided religious and cultural services for many years and purchase a new building in a new location, one of the longtime worshippers objected.  After multiple complaints and amendments, she brought a derivative suit against the corporation, a claim for breach of charitable trust, and a direct cause of action against the Society and its Board.  An appellate court in New Jersey has affirmed a trial court decision dismissing all three claims.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has affirmed a decision by a state trial court holding that a charitable trust providing support of Virginia Military Institute should not be terminated because the additional burdens of operating as a separate private foundation were not “unreasonably out of proportion to the charitable benefits” of the trust.

A private foundation in Pittsburgh that successfully fought off a challenge by the founder’s grandchildren to the composition of its board has been denied a claim to recover attorneys’ fees and costs that it said totaled nearly $1.5 million.

The Buckeye Institute case seeking to rid charities of the obligation to complete Schedule B disclosing substantial donors on the annual Form 990 tax information return has been certified for appeal to the federal Court of Appeals.  The District Court in Ohio hearing the case has certified the case for an interlocutory appeal.