Church pension plans

Following oral arguments in March in three cases challenging health care organizations’ church plan status, the U.S. Supreme Court found plans maintained by principal-purpose organizations qualify as “church plans.” However, it did not rule that the hospitals in these cases were principal-purpose organizations. 

In a blow to the hundreds of thousands of employees of religiously-affiliated hospitals, schools and social services organizations, the U.S. Supreme Court said that their pensions might not be protected by federal ERISA laws.

Employees of religious hospitals -- including St. Peters University Hospital in New Brunswick and the now defunct St. James Hospital in Newark-- were dealt a blow by the U.S. Supreme Court Monday.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today that pension plans with ties to religious organizations may not have to comply with federal pension law. Today’s ruling leaves it to lower courts to decide whether hundreds of thousands of people who thought they were guaranteed federal protections will receive the pensions they earned.