The Supreme Court of Virginia has held that the George Mason University Foundation, a private nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization raising and holding private donations for the benefit of George Mason University, is not a “public body” subject to the state’s Freedom of Information Act.  It has affirmed a trial court denying access to donor information concerning gifts from foundations associated with the Koch brothers.

A “friends of the library” in Oregon is a charitable organization, but its bookstore is not exempt from real estate tax because the primary use of the property is for the sale of used books, which is not a charitable activity, the Oregon Tax Court has ruled.  It has affirmed a Magistrate Division decision denying exemption to a property utilized by The New Friends of the Beaverton City Library to raise funds for the Library.

How does the federal Volunteer Protection Act relate to a state law claim for unpaid wages?  The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts has had the opportunity to spell out the relationship in a recent case involving claims by employees of a dissolved community health center against the volunteer chair of the board.

The head of a private family foundation has been convicted of failing to pay federal income tax on the value of scholarships paid by the foundation for tuition for his children.  The charges were among several that caused James L. Wright to be sentenced to 33 months in prison and ordered to make restitution of $146,404.

“This is a classic case in which failed corporate governance led to distrust, dissention, and disorganization.  With all the best intentions aside, had these two nonprofit entities followed corporate principles and practices likely no lawsuit would have been filed.”

The Court of Appeals of Ohio has ruled that directors of a nonprofit trade association cannot be sued on behalf of the corporation for turning down a settlement offer in a defamation suit that would have saved the Association $43 million.  But it has also ruled that it had no jurisdiction to force the Association to indemnify the directors who successfully defended the suit, saying that could be done only by a court in Delaware, the state of the Association’s incorporation.

A woman working as a cook for a nonprofit providing services for persons with “developmental issues” was not entitled to workers’ compensation benefits when she stepped in a hole in the parking lot while preparing food for the agency’s first “Family Fun Day.”  An appellate court in New Jersey has affirmed a decision by a state compensation judge denying the claim.