Tess Gee was quoted regarding the Supreme Court's ruling that religiously-affiliated hospitals do not have to comply with federal laws protecting pension benefits for workers. Even though the Court decided in their favor, the issue of whether the plans are maintained by a principal purpose organization (PPO) was left undecided and "the hospitals will have to establish that they are a PPO, as their counsel conceded at the argument, to quality for the church plan exemption," she said. The 2016 case pitted three health care systems against employees and former employees who originally filed a class action lawsuit. The Employer Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA) obligates private employers to offer pension plans that adhere to rules to ensure plan solvency and protects the employees, but church plans have long been exempt from those regulations.