MEDINA v. CATHOLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES

No. 16-1005.

877 F.3d 1213 (2017)

Janeen MEDINA, individually, and on behalf of all others similarly situated, and on behalf of the CHI Plans, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CATHOLIC HEALTH INITIATIVES; Geraldine Bednash; Maureen Comer; Richard Corrente; David R. Edwards; Katherine Gray; Barbara Hagedorn; James Hamill; Antoinette Hardy-Waller; Phyllis Hughes; Donald Jones; Andrea J. Lee; David R. Lincoln; Kevin E. Lofton; Christopher R. Lowney; Eleanor F. Martin; Mary Margaret Mooney; Lillian Murphy; Mary Jo Potter; Patricia Smith; Edward Speed; Dean Swindle; Patricia G. Webb; John and Jane Does, 1-10, whose true names are unknown, Defendants-Appellees. American Association of Retired Persons; Freedom From Religion Foundation; Pension Rights Center; Americans United for Separation of Church and State; American Civil Liberties Union; Guidestone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention; The Pension Boards-United Church of Christ, Inc.; Church Alliance; The Catholic Health Association of the United States, Amici Curiae.

United States Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit.

FILED December 19, 2017.


Attorney(s) appearing for the Case

Ron Kilgard , Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Phoenix, Arizona ( Lynn Lincoln Sarko , Laura R. Gerber , Havila C. Unrein , and Matthew M. Gerend , Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Seattle, Washington, and Laurie B. Ashton , Keller Rohrback L.L.P., Phoenix, Arizona, and Karen L. Handorf , Michelle C. Yau , and Mary J. Bortscheller , Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, Washington, D.C., with him on the briefs), Phoenix, Arizona, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Lars C. Golumbic ( Sarah M. Adams and Sean C. Abouchedid , with him on the brief), Groom Law Group, Chartered, Washington, D.C., for Defendants-Appellees.

William Alvarado Riveria and Mary Ellen Signorille , AARP Foundation Litigation, Washington, D.C., on the brief for Amicus Curiae AARP.

Andrew L. Seidel , Freedom from Religion Foundation, Madison, Wisconsin, on the brief for Amicus Curiae Freedom from Religion Foundation.

Curtis L. Kennedy , Denver Colorado, Norman P. Stein , Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Karen W. Ferguson , Pension Rights Center, Washington, D.C. on the brief for Amicus Curiae Pension Rights Center.

Daniel Mach , American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, Washington, D.C., and Richard B. Katskee and Bradley Girard , Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Washington, D.C., on the brief for Amici Curiae Americans United for Separation of Church and State and American Civil Liberties Union.

G. Daniel Miller , Conner & Winters, LLP, Washington, D.C., and Laurence A. Hansen and Hugh S. Balsam , Locke Lord LLP, Chicago, Illinois, on the brief for Amici Curiae GuideStone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention, The Pension Boards-United Church of Christ, Inc., and The Church Alliance.

Mark E. Chopko , Marissa Parker and Brandon Riley , Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP, Washington, D.C., and Lisa J. Gilden , The Catholic Health Association of the United States, Washington, D.C., on the brief for Amicus Curiae The Catholic Health Association of the United States.

Before TYMKOVICH, Chief Judge, BACHARACH, and MORITZ, Circuit Judges.


The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. § 1001, et seq. (ERISA), generally exempts from its requirements "church plans" — employee-benefit plans established and maintained by churches for their employees. ERISA also extends that church-plan exemption to so-called principal-purpose organizations...

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