Case Overview
Plaintiffs alleged that St. Anthony Medical Center, The Franciscan Sisters of Chicago Service Corporation, Franciscan Alliance, Inc., and the individual and Committee Defendants were improperly claiming that the St. Anthony Medical Center Retirement Plan (the “St. Anthony Plan” or “Plan”), a defined benefit pension plan, was exempt from the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”), a federal law, pursuant to a statutory exemption intended for “church plans.”
Plaintiffs alleged a number of reasons why the St. Anthony Plan does not qualify as an ERISA-exempt church plan, that Defendants violated ERISA, and that the exemption from ERISA, as applied to the Plan, is an unconstitutional violation of the Establishment Clause.
Case Status
On August 14, 2019, the Honorable Sharon Johnson Coleman granted final approval of a Class Action Settlement Agreement.