A 501(c)(3) nonprofit running long-distance bicycle rides to raise money for affordable housing has found itself uninsured when sued for negligence by one of its participants who was seriously injured while on a cross-country ride.  A federal District Court in Philadelphia has granted summary judgment to the organization’s commercial liability and excess coverage insurers who sought a declaration that they had no obligation to protect the charity from the rider’s claims.

Congregants of a church near the Pennsylvania-Delaware state line sued in federal court claiming that the senior pastor stole funds from the church and that he and others breached their fiduciary duty to the congregation and interfered with various contracts.  A federal court in Philadelphia has dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has affirmed a Tax Court decision holding that a 501(c)(7) social club may not use losses from its non-member social events to offset gains from its investment activities because the non-member events were not operated with an intent to profit.  It has held that the club did not demonstrate a profit motive for the activity that had shown significant losses for 14 straight years.

The dean of a Christian seminary has been permitted to proceed with a breach of contract claim arising from the termination of her employment, despite the defendants’ invocation of the “ministerial exception” that precludes courts from becoming involved in employment discrimination suits with “ministers.”  An appellate court in California has reversed a trial court that had dismissed the entire case.

Dues-paying “members” of the Berkshire Museum in Massachusetts, who have no voting rights in the nonprofit museum corporation, lack standing to seek an injunction to stop the sale of valuable artwork, the state Appeals Court has affirmed.

A group of plaintiffs sued the museum and its trustees individually claiming standing to sue to enforce the museum’s governing documents, to protect their rights as members, and derivatively as corporate members.  A trial judge dismissed their claims and the Appeals Court has affirmed.