The federal District Court in Maryland has refused to grant taxpayers a charitable contribution deduction for the value of a home they donated to a charity for “deconstruction” as part of the organization’s job training program.  The Court has allowed a deduction for additional cash that the owners gave in order to offset some of the charity’s costs.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has asked the state’s Commonwealth Court to modify existing consent decrees for the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, and Highmark, Inc., a Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance plan, to ensure that UPMC “abides by its charitable obligations to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.” 

An applicant for 501(c)(4) social welfare status may not challenge the facial constitutionality of a Revenue Ruling relied upon by the Internal Revenue Service in denying its claim for (c)(4) status, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled.

An employee’s claim under a state whistleblower protection law is not defeated because an employer suspended both the employee who filed a criminal complaint for sexual assault and the accused co-employee from their jobs in a sheltered workshop. 

A nonprofit providing services to persons with mental health issues and other disabilities sought to have the claim dismissed because it treated its two client employees equally.  A trial court in Michigan agreed and dismissed the case.  An appellate court has reversed.

The “ministerial exception” that protects churches and church-related entities from many employment suits does not protect a Catholic elementary school from suit by a fifth grade teacher who claims she was terminated in violation of the Americans With Disabilities Act.  The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 ruling, has reversed a District Court decision dismissing the case.