Plaintiff class action on behalf of participants and beneficiaries of the Saint Peter’s Healthcare System Retirement Plan (the “Plan”), alleging that the Plan was being improperly maintained by SPHS as a “church plan” under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (“ERISA”), 29 U.S.C. § 1001 et seq.
The question posed was whether a non-profit healthcare corporation may establish and maintain a church plan if it is controlled by or associated with a church. If answered in the affirmative, the Court must then determine whether this interpretation of the church plan definition violates the Establishment Clause of the United States Constitution.
The Court concluded, as a matter of law, SPHS’s employee pension Plan was not a church plan because it had not been established by a church, notwithstanding the fact that the IRS had issued a private letter ruling to the contrary.