Lawsuit Argues Publisher's Pension Plan Was Not An Exempt Church Plan

The Wall Street Journal reports on a federal lawsuit filed in Minneapolis yesterday by employees and retirees of Augsburg Fortress, the company that publishes hymnals, theological works and other books for the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. Plaintiffs are suing the company after it announced it was terminating its seriously underfunded pension plan and would distribute out the remaining assets to employees and retirees. The lawsuit argues that the publisher's pension plan was not exempt from ERISA as a church plan, that Augsburg violated its fiduciary duties under ERISA by allowing the plan to become underfunded and failing to alert plan participants to the plan's financial problems. The complaint alleges alternatively that even if the plan was exempt from federal law as a church plan, Augsburg violated its fiduciary duties under state law to prudently manage the fund's assets. [Thanks to Rev. Chris Duckworth for the lead.]