Church pension plans

Almost all private retirement plans are required to comply with federal pension and tax laws. There is only one major exception: Church pension plans. Employees covered by church pension plans are denied the basic protections provided to virtually all other private-sector workers who participate in pension plans.

In one of five major class-action lawsuits challenging church-affiliated sponsors of defined benefit plans, a federal judge ruled Tuesday that the pension plan of Dignity Health is covered by ERISA.

A New Jersey federal district court judge recently ruled that the pension plan of city-based Saint Peter’s University Hospital is not a "church plan" exempt from the protections of federal pension law.

New rulings against Catholic hospital chains on both coasts have intensified a faceoff between religiously affiliated employers and workers who are alarmed by the companies' efforts to avoid insuring or funding their pensions.