Skip to main content
MENU
Subscribe
  • Subscribe
  • Account
  • LOGIN
  • Topics
    • Alternatives
    • Consultants
    • Coronavirus
    • Courts
    • Defined Contribution
    • ESG
    • ETFs
    • Hedge Funds
    • Industry Voices
    • Investing
    • Money Management
    • Opinion
    • Partner Content
    • Pension Funds
    • Private Equity
    • Real Estate
    • Russia-Ukraine War
    • SECURE Act 2.0
    • Special Reports
    • White Papers
  • Rankings & Awards
    • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
    • Top-Performing Managers
    • Largest Money Managers
    • DC Money Managers
    • DC Record Keepers
    • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
    • World's Largest Retirement Funds
    • Best Places to Work in Money Management
    • Excellence & Innovation Awards
    • Eddy Awards
  • ETFs
    • Latest ETF News
    • Fund Screener
    • Education Center
    • Equities
    • Fixed Income
    • Commodities
    • Actively Managed
    • Alternatives
    • ESG Rated
  • ESG
    • Latest ESG News
    • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
    • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
    • Impact Investing
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • ESG Rated ETFs
  • Defined Contribution
    • Latest DC News
    • DC Money Manager Rankings
    • DC Record Keeper Rankings
    • Innovations in DC
    • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
  • Searches & Hires
    • Latest Searches & Hires News
    • Searches & Hires Database
    • RFPs
  • Performance Data
    • P&I Research Center
    • Earnings Tracker
    • Endowment Returns Tracker
    • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
    • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
    • Pension Risk Transfer Database
    • Future of Investments Research Series
    • Charts & Infographics
    • Polls
  • Careers
  • Events
    • View All Conferences
    • View All Webinars
    • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
    • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
    • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
    • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. COURTS
June 07, 2016 01:00 AM

Participants sue over church-plan status for Holy Cross Hospital pension fund

Hazel Bradford
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print

    Holy Cross Hospital and Sinai Health Systems, Chicago, are being sued by participants of a terminated defined benefit plan who are challenging its church-plan status.

    The lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Chicago alleges that Holy Cross Hospital transferred plan sponsorship and liabilities to an order of nuns, Sisters of Saint Casimir, the day before completing a merger with Sinai Health System in 2012. At the time, the plan had $31 million in liabilities after Holy Cross stopped making contributions in 2007, according to the lawsuit.

    When SSC terminated the plan two years later, participants were informed that lump-sum benefits would be calculated using a termination discount rate of 13.5%, instead of the 4% rate applied under ERISA, causing some participants to receive less than half the original benefits promised, according to the lawsuit, which claims that Holy Cross' conduct “was even more egregious” because the pension plan complied with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act for 19 years. In 1993, it won approval from the IRS to qualify as a church plan retroactively as of March 1974. That made it exempt from ERISA funding and reporting rules, and benefit guarantees from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp.

    The lawsuit notes that in March, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago denied a bid by Advocate Health Care Network Pension Plan, Downers Grove, Ill., to be considered a church pension plan on the grounds that it was not established by a church or association of churches.

    Plaintiffs are asking for joint and several liability for Holy Cross and Sinai Health Systems, payment of the unfunded liabilities plus interest, civil penalties per day per plaintiff, court costs and the appointment of an independent fiduciary.

    Rachel Dvorken, executive vice president and general counsel for Sinai Health System, declined to comment on the new lawsuit.

    Karen Handorf, a partner at Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll representing the plaintiffs in Butler et al. vs. Holy Cross Hospital et al., said some former employees have been forced to find additional work and live on reduced incomes. “Holy Cross is an example of why the wrongful claim to church-plan status has serious consequences for retirees who have been denied the benefits that they earned through their years of employment,” Ms. Handorf said in an e-mail.

    Related Articles
    Catholic Health Initiatives wins church plan challenge
    Appeals court upholds ruling denying church-plan status for health-care system
    Advocate Health Care loses church plan appeal
    Saint Francis Hospital settles church-plan challenge with $107 million contribu…
    Faith-based health systems ask Supreme Court to take cases over pension plans
    Trinity Health Corp. to settle two church-plan lawsuits
    Providence Health & Services to contribute $350 million to settle church-plan c…
    Supreme Court will hear church-plan cases
    Federal regulators back church-plan sponsors in Supreme Court challenge
    Holy Cross Hospital agrees to $9.1 million settlement in church-plan challenge
    Recommended for You
    ONLINE_190109864_AR_0_SLHVICTSVYPI.jpg
    Former Molina Healthcare employees sue NFP Retirement alleging ERISA violations
    SEClogobig-main.jpg
    Appeals court rules against SEC on administrative law judge proceeding
    ONLINE_180709926_AR_0_SPVGDZVTUNPE.jpg
    Barnabas Health settles ERISA complaint for $1.75 million
    Alternatives: Investing Across the Spectrum
    Sponsored Content: Alternatives: Investing Across the Spectrum

    Reader Poll

    May 9, 2022
    SEE MORE POLLS >
    Sponsored
    White Papers
    Are Factors a Thing of the Past?
    Q2 2022 Credit Outlook: Carry On
    Leverage does not equal risk
    Is there a mid-cap gap in your DC plan?
    Out of the Shadows: The Revolution in Shadow Accounting
    The pivotal role of fixed income markets in the ESG revolution
    View More
    Sponsored Content
    Partner Content
    The Industrialization of ESG Investment
    For institutional investors, ETFs can make meeting liquidity needs easier
    Gold: the most effective commodity investment
    2021 Investment Outlook | Investing Beyond the Pandemic: A Reset for Portfolios
    Ten ways retirement plan professionals add value to plan sponsors
    Gold: an efficient hedge
    View More
    E-MAIL NEWSLETTERS

    Sign up and get the best of News delivered straight to your email inbox, free of charge. Choose your news – we will deliver.

    Subscribe Today
    May 9, 2022 page one

    Get access to the news, research and analysis of events affecting the retirement and institutional money management businesses from a worldwide network of reporters and editors.

    Subscribe
    Connect With Us
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • LinkedIn

    Our Mission

    To consistently deliver news, research and analysis to the executives who manage the flow of funds in the institutional investment market.

    About Us

    Main Office
    685 Third Avenue
    Tenth Floor
    New York, NY 10017-4036

    Chicago Office
    130 E. Randolph St.
    Suite 3200
    Chicago, IL 60601

    Contact Us

    Careers at Crain

    About Pensions & Investments

     

    Advertising
    • Media Kit
    • P&I Content Solutions
    • P&I Careers | Post a Job
    • Reprints & Permissions
    Resources
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • FAQ
    • P&I Research Center
    • Site map
    • Staff Directory
    Legal
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Request
    Pensions & Investments
    Copyright © 1996-2022. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • Topics
      • Alternatives
      • Consultants
      • Coronavirus
      • Courts
      • Defined Contribution
      • ESG
      • ETFs
      • Hedge Funds
      • Industry Voices
      • Investing
      • Money Management
      • Opinion
      • Partner Content
      • Pension Funds
      • Private Equity
      • Real Estate
      • Russia-Ukraine War
      • SECURE Act 2.0
      • Special Reports
      • White Papers
    • Rankings & Awards
      • 1,000 Largest Retirement Plans
      • Top-Performing Managers
      • Largest Money Managers
      • DC Money Managers
      • DC Record Keepers
      • Largest Hedge Fund Managers
      • World's Largest Retirement Funds
      • Best Places to Work in Money Management
      • Excellence & Innovation Awards
      • Eddy Awards
    • ETFs
      • Latest ETF News
      • Fund Screener
      • Education Center
      • Equities
      • Fixed Income
      • Commodities
      • Actively Managed
      • Alternatives
      • ESG Rated
    • ESG
      • Latest ESG News
      • The Institutional Investor’s Guide to ESG Investing
      • Climate Change: The Inescapable Opportunity
      • Impact Investing
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • ESG Rated ETFs
    • Defined Contribution
      • Latest DC News
      • DC Money Manager Rankings
      • DC Record Keeper Rankings
      • Innovations in DC
      • Trends in DC: Focus on Retirement Income
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
    • Searches & Hires
      • Latest Searches & Hires News
      • Searches & Hires Database
      • RFPs
    • Performance Data
      • P&I Research Center
      • Earnings Tracker
      • Endowment Returns Tracker
      • Corporate Pension Contribution Tracker
      • Pension Fund Returns Tracker
      • Pension Risk Transfer Database
      • Future of Investments Research Series
      • Charts & Infographics
      • Polls
    • Careers
    • Events
      • View All Conferences
      • View All Webinars
      • 2022 Innovation Investing Conference
      • 2022 Defined Contribution East Conference
      • 2022 ESG Investing Conference
      • 2022 DC Investment Lineup Conference
      • 2022 Alternatives Investing Conference