A South Dakota lawyer looks at a case involving depleted church pension funds that leaves retirees

A South Dakota lawyer looks at a case involving depleted church pension funds that leaves retirees in legal limbo.




A terribly interesting case was dismissed by the Supreme Court this year on tremendously uninteresting grounds. The interesting parts of San Juan Archdiocese v. Feliciano are worth considering. The case might have been as much of a landmark as Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores. It turned out not to be. Still, its unresolved First Amendment issues are vital ones.

Several years ago, nearly 200 teachers of three Catholic parochial schools in Puerto Rico learned that their pension was defunct. They sued to require the Catholic Church in Puerto Rico (as exemplified by the above photo - from wsj.com - of the seat of the San Juan archdiocese) to resume the payments to which they were entitled. The issue was – what corporate person was the proper defendant?

The pension fund was a trust – a trust with legal personhood – so it was named as one of the co-defendants. No one questioned this, but the reason for the lawsuit was that the trust had been depleted. By 2016, the pension was insolvent, and someone was responsible, the plaintiffs alleged.

The personhood of the plaintiffs was straightforward. They were natural persons; flesh and blood ensouled individuals. As such, they were proper parties to their cause of action for breach of contract. The teachers were promisees on their teaching contracts, the terms of which included covenants to provide pension benefits.

Read more: https://www.sdstandardnow.com/home/a-south-dakota-lawyer-looks-at-a-case-involving-depleted-church-pension-funds-and-what-happens-to-retirees-that-are-in-legal-limbo