The
Court affirmed the UCBR decision that the employer did not operate primarily
for religious purposes, as defined in 43 P.S. 404 (l)(4)(8))a)(ii), relying
heavily on a non-reported decision, Grau v. UCBR, 2012 WL 8668282 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2012)
The
employer ran an organic CSA farm that was associated with the Church of
Illumination, but the employer's own testimony showed that the employer
organization was not created for religious purposes, but to perform the
administrative, non-theological work of the church, such as ground and buildind
maintenance and hiring.
The
close financial connection between the employer and the church was held to be
insufficient to exempt the employer, because a nonprofit corporation
responsible solely for managing the admin. and finances of a religious
organization is not operated primarily for religious purposes.
