The Supreme Court today granted certiorari to review a Third Circuit case. In Kaplan v. St. Peter’s Healthcare System, the Third Circuit a year ago ruled against a Catholic hospital in an employee-retirement-plan appeal. The Third Circuit ruled that, although a certain ERISA exemption would apply to a retirement plan established by a church and then maintained by a church agency, it did not apply to plans established by a church agency. I wrote at the time, “A phalanx of amici appeared on both sides and the opinion notes that a Seventh Circuit case involving the same issue is pending now, so I doubt this fight is over yet.”

Sure enough, today the Supreme Court granted cert, consolidating the case with the Seventh Circuit case plus a Ninth Circuit case.