Roman Catholic Archdiocese of San Juan v. Feliciano
U.S. Supreme Court · decided February 24, 2020 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Decided
- February 24, 2020
- Term
- October Term 2019
- Vote
- 9–0
- Issue area
- Federalism
- Disposition
- Vacated and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
PER CURIAM. In 1979, the Office of the Superintendent of Catholic Schools of the Archdiocese of San Juan created a trust to administer a pension plan for employees of Catholic schools, aptly named the Pension Plan for Employees of Catholic Schools Trust (Trust). Among the participating schools were Perpetuo Socorro Academy, San Ignacio de Loyola Academy, and San Jose Academy. In 2016, active and retired employees of the academies filed complaints in the Puerto Rico Court of First Instance alleging that the Trust had terminated the plan, eliminating the employees' pension benefits. The employees named as a defendant the "Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church of Puerto Rico," which the employees claimed was a legal entity with supervisory authority over all Catholic institutions in Puerto Rico. App. to Pet. for Cert. 58-59, 152-153 (emphasis deleted). The employees also named as defendants the Archdiocese of San Juan, the Superintendent, the three academies, and the Trust. The Court of First Instance, in an order affirmed by the Puerto Rico Court of Appeals, denied a preliminary injunction requiring the payment of benefits, but the Puerto Rico Supreme Court reversed. The Supreme Court concluded that "if the Trust did not have the necessary funds to meet its obligations, the participating employers would be obligated to pay." Id. , at 3. But, because "there was a dispute as to…
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