The Connecticut Law Tribune reported on Friday that St. Francis Hospital & Medical Center settled a class action lawsuit alleging that its pension plan failed to comply with ERISA because it improperly contended it was exempt as a church plan.
The suit alleged that the plan was underfunded by $140 million. The parties reportedly agreed to settle for $107 million, payable over 10 years.
Certainly the settlement discussions involved consideration of Kaplan v. Saint Peter’s Healthcare Sys., 810 F.3d 175, 177 (3d Cir. 2015), and Stapleton v. Advocate Health Care Network, 817 F.3d 517 (7th Cir. Mar. 17, 2016), both of which drastically narrowed the church-plan exemption.