Does ERISA Apply?

If the benefits in question were connected to your employment, the answer is probably yes. However, if the employer was a government or church, then ERISA may not apply. Although this seems straightforward, this question can be incredibly complex.

One of our cases involved several months of litigation surrounding the question of whether a church was a church because there is some division on whether “religious entities” are considered churches. Quasi-governmental entities can lead to lengthy preliminary disputes as well. The insurance company will do everything it can to get ERISA to apply if there is even a slim chance it will work.