Nos. 16-74, 16-86, 16-258 In the Supreme Court of the United States __________________ ADVOCATE HEALTH CARE NETWORK, ET AL., Petitioners, v. MARIA STAPLETON, ET AL. __________________ SAINT PETER’S HEALTHCARE SYSTEM, ET AL., Petitioners, v. LAURENCE KAPLAN __________________ DIGNITY HEALTH, ET AL., Petitioners, v. STARLA ROLLINS __________________ On Writs of Certiorari to the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third, Seventh and Ninth Circuits __________________ BRIEF OF THE GENERAL CONFERENCE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS AS AMICUS CURIAE SUPPORTING PETITIONERS __________________ TODD R. MCFARLAND GENE C. SCHAERR ASSOCIATE GENERAL Counsel of Record COUNSEL S. KYLE DUNCAN GENERAL CONFERENCE STEPHEN S. SCHWARTZ OF SEVENTH-DAY SCHAERR|DUNCAN LLP ADVENTISTS 1717 K Street NW, 12501 Old Columbia Suite 900 Pike Washington, DC 20006 Silver Spring, MD 20904 (202) 787-1060 (301) 680-6321 [email protected] Counsel for Amicus Curiae QUESTION PRESENTED The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”) governs employers that offer pensions and other benefits to their employees. “Church plans” are exempt from ERISA’s coverage. 29 U.S.C. §§ 1002(33), 1003(b)(2). For over thirty years, the three federal agencies that administer and enforce ERISA—the Internal Revenue Service, the Depart- ment of Labor, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Cor- poration—have interpreted the church plan exemp- tion to include pension plans maintained by otherwise qualifying organizations that are associated with or controlled by a church, whether or not a church itself established the plan. The question presented is whether the church plan exemption applies so long as a pension plan is main- tained by an otherwise qualifying church-affiliated or- ganization, or whether the exemption applies only if, in addition, a church initially established the plan. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Question Presented ..................................................... i Table of Authorities ................................................... iii Introduction and Interests of Amicus ......................... 1 Statement .................................................................... 4 Summary of Argument .............................................. 10 Argument ................................................................... 14 I. The courts of appeals’ narrow reading of the “church plan” exemption would create a serious and unnecessary risk of unconstitutional interdenominational discrimination. ..................................................... 14 A. For reasons of religious doctrine and polity, some religious denominations— such as the Seventh-day Adventists— exhibit a high degree of integration between the church and its health care systems. ........................................................... 15 B. Any attempt to distinguish among the various religious organizations and their related health care systems would raise serious constitutional concerns. ..................... 23 II. The courts of appeals’ narrow reading would create a serious and unnecessary risk of unconstitutional interference in religious organizations’ autonomy. ..................................... 28 Conclusion ................................................................. 41 iii TABLE OF AUTHORITIES Cases Board of Education of Kiryas Joel Village School District v. Grumet, 512 U.S. 687 (1994) ............................... 4, 12, 24, 26 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014) ..................................... 30, 35 Cannata v. Catholic Diocese of Austin, 700 F.3d 169 (5th Cir. 2012) ................................. 33 Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc. v. City of Clearwater, 2 F.3d 1514 (11th Cir. 1993) ................................. 36 Church of the Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993) ............................................... 29 Cohen v. City of Des Plaines, 8 F.3d 484 (7th Cir. 1993) ............................... 32, 37 Colorado Christian University v. Weaver, 534 F.3d 1245 (10th Cir. 2008) ............................. 37 Commack Self-Service Kosher Meats, Inc. v. Weiss, 294 F.3d 415 (2d Cir. 2002) .................................. 37 Corporation of Presiding Bishop of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints v. Amos, 483 U.S. 327 (1987) ............................. 29, 31, 37, 38 iv Coulee Catholic School v. Labor & Industry Review Commission, 768 N.W.2d 868 (Wis. 2009) ................................. 33 Edward J. DeBartolo Corp. v. Florida Gulf Coast Building & Construction Trades Council, 485 U.S. 568 (1988) ......................................... 10, 27 EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School, 597 F.3d 769 (6th Cir. 2010) ................................. 29 Espinosa v. Rusk, 634 F.2d 477 (10th Cir. 1980) ......................... 32, 37 Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church & School v. EEOC, 132 S. Ct. 694 (2012) ..... 3, 12, 13, 28, 29, 32, 33, 35 Kaplan v. Saint Peter’s Healthcare System, 810 F.3d 175 (3d Cir. 2015) .............. 8, 9, 26, 37, 38 Kedroff v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral of Russian Orthodox Church in North America, 344 U.S. 94 (1952) ..................................... 28, 35, 36 Kreshik v. Saint Nicholas Cathedral, 363 U.S. 190 (1960) ............................................... 36 Larson v. Valente, 456 U.S. 228 (1982) ................... 3, 11, 12, 24, 25, 26 Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602 (1971) ............................................... 25 v Mitchell v. Helms, 530 U.S. 793 (2000) ......................................... 31, 37 Montrose Christian School Corp. v. Walsh, 770 A.2d 111 (Md. 2001) ....................................... 33 New York v. Cathedral Academy, 434 U.S. 125 (1977) ......................................... 31, 37 NLRB v. Catholic Bishop of Chicago, 440 U.S. 490 (1979) ..................................... 2, 31, 39 Northwest Austin Municipal Utility District Number One v. Holder, 557 U.S. 193 (2009) ............................................... 10 Presbyterian Church in the United States v. Mary Elizabeth Blue Hull Memorial Presbyterian Church, 393 U.S. 440 (1969) ......................................... 36, 37 Rollins v. Dignity Health, 830 F.3d 900 (9th Cir. 2016) ................................................. 8, 9, 26, 37 Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese for the United States of America & Canada v. Milivojevich, 426 U.S. 696 (1976) ......................... 2, 12, 28, 30, 36 Sheedy v. Adventist Health System Sunbelt Healthcare Corp., No. 6:16-cv-1893 (M.D. Fla., filed Oct. 28, 2016) ...................................................................... 14 Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963) ............................................... 38 vi Sklar v. C.I.R., 282 F.3d 610 (9th Cir. 2002) ................................. 24 Spencer v. World Vision, Inc., 633 F.3d 723 (9th Cir. 2011) ........................... 29, 32 Stapleton v. Advocate Health Care Network, 817 F.3d 517 (7th Cir. 2016) ................... 8, 9, 26, 37 Tenafly Eruv Association, Inc. v. Borough of Tenafly, 309 F.3d 144 (3d Cir. 2002) .................................. 29 United States v. X-Citement Video, Inc., 513 U.S. 64 (1994) ................................................. 10 Universidad Central de Bayamon v. NLRB, 793 F.2d 383 (1st Cir. 1985) ..................... 13, 39, 40 University of Great Falls v. NLRB, 278 F.3d 1335 (D.C. Cir. 2002) ................. 32, 37, 40 Statutes 26 U.S.C. § 414(e) ........................................................ 5 29 U.S.C. § 1002(33) ................................................ 4, 7 29 U.S.C. § 1003(b)(2) ................................................. 4 Legislative Materials 125 Cong. Rec. 10057 (1979) ..................................... 37 S. Rep. No. 93-383 (1973) ............................................ 5 vii Other Authorities Adventist Health Policy Association, “Member Profiles,” available at http://adventisthealthpolicy.org/member- profiles. .................................................................. 15 Adventist Health System, “About Us,” available at http://www.adventisthealthsystem.com/pag e.php?section=about .............................................. 15 Adventist Health, “About Us,” available at https://www.adventisthealth.org/pages/abou t-us.aspx; Kettering Health Network ................... 15 Adventist HealthCare, “About Us,” available at http://www.adventisthealthcare.com/about/# .WIDlPBsrJpk ....................................................... 15 Dysinger, William P., In His Medical Institutions, Ministry (Feb. 1977) .................. 20, 21 Esbeck, Carl H., The Establishment Clause as a Structural Restraint on Governmental Power, 84 Iowa L. Rev. 1 (1998) ....................................... 36 Gen. Counsel Memorandum, GCM 37266, 1977 WL 46200 (I.R.S. Sept. 22, 1977) ... 5, 6, 34, 35 Gen. Counsel Memorandum, GCM 39007, 1983 WL 197946 (I.R.S. July 1, 1983). ................... 7 viii General Conference Committee Minutes (Oct. 24, 1967) ....................................................... 22 General Conference Committee Minutes, (Nov. 28, 1910) ...................................................... 21 General Conference, Adventist Health Ministries, available at http://healthministries.com/ ................................. 19 Health Ministries, North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, “History, Mission & Organization,” available at http://www.nadhealthministries.org/article/ 16/about-us/history-mission-and- organization..................................................... 19, 20 Jan. 1992 Plan Booklet ............................................. 23 Kettering Health Network, “About Us,” available at http://www.ketteringhealth.org/aboutus/ ............. 15 Land, Gary, Historical Dictionary of the Seventh-day Adventists (2d ed. 2014) ................... 20 Laycock, Douglas, Towards a General Theory of the Religion Clauses: The Case of Church Labor Relations and the Right to Church Autonomy, 81 Colum. L. Rev. 1373 (1981) .............................. 36 Nichol, Francis D., The Genius and Scope of Our Medical Work—No. 1, Ministry (Aug. 1949). ..................................................................... 16 ix North American Division Committee on Administration Minutes (Apr. 4, 1979) ................ 22 North American Division Committee on Administration Minutes (Oct. 25, 1967) .............. 22 North American Division Committee on Administration Minutes (Sept. 25, 1980) ............. 22 North American Division Committee on Administration Minutes (Sept. 7, 2010) ............... 23 Quevedo, Jane Allen, A Legacy of Health & Healing: Stories of Early Adventist Health Care (2016) ............................................................ 19 Ray, Herman C., Sabbathkeeping in our medical institutions, Ministry (Jan. 1962) ........... 21 Rogers, John D., Health Evangelism: Putting the Right Arm to Work—No. 2, Ministry (Dec. 1950) ............................................................. 20 Seventh-day Adventist Hosp. Ret. Plan (Jan. 1, 2012) ......................................................... 23 Smith, Dunbar W., Why a Seventh-day Adventist Medical Work?, (Part II), Ministry (March 1964). ............................................ 16, 17, 20 The Review & Herald (June 21, 1906) ...................... 18 White, Ellen G., 1 Testimonies for the Church, (1868) ..................................................................... 17 White, Ellen G., 7 Testimonies for the Church (1902) ..................................................................... 18