US. High Court Expands Religious Exemption for Retirement Plans
The exemption in federal pension law for church retirement plans should apply even to plans not initially established by a church, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday.
This morning’s reversal stems from class actions against Advocate Health Care Network by current and former employees.
Advocate runs 12 hospitals and 250 other health care facilities in Illinois. Though it is not a church, it has contractual relationships with the Metropolitan Chicago Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and the Illinois Conference of the United Church of Christ.
Maria Stapleton and the other workers claimed that Advocate had failed to meet various safeguards for their plans required by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.
by not funding the plan at sufficient levels, requiring employees to work for five years before benefits are fully vested, and not clarifying participants’ rights to future benefits.
Full Content: Courthouse News
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