St. Joseph Pensioners Sue Bishop, Prospect CharterCare & Others

PROVIDENCE, RI—The Catholic Bishop of Providence, the Diocese and the for-profit that bought Fatima Hospital are all named in a class action lawsuit. The lawsuit was filed in Providence federal court on behalf of the nurses and hospital workers who found out last August their pension fund was broke.

The nurses and hospital workers had been employed at Our Lady of Fatima Hospital and at St. Joseph Hospital. Fatima is still operating but was sold in 2014 to Prospect CharterCare, a for-profit based in California. According to court papers, the church is accused of filing a false tax return that claimed the pension was a "church fund" (and therefore exempt from the federal Employment Retirement Income Security Act rules). The suit also alleges the defendants failed to fund the plan properly, leading to its insolvency. The class action suit covers about 2,700 people. They want the pension funded, and the suit also claims the new Fatima Hospital and Roger Williams Hospital should be considered assets, which could be sold to pay back the fund.

Patch will update this story.

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