On October 29, 2012, Grote Industries and its owners filed this lawsuit in the Southern District of Indiana against the Federal Government under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act ("RFRA"), the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"), and the First and Fifth Amendments. Plaintiffs, represented by private counsel and the Alliance Defending Freedom, seek to enjoin enforcement of provisions of the Affordable Care Act ("ACA") extending universal contraception coverage in employer-sponsored private health insurance coverage. Plaintiffs contend that this mandatory contraception coverage violates their sincerely held religious beliefs.

On December 27, 2012, the District Court (Judge Sarah Evans Barker) denied plaintiffs' motion for preliminary injunction, and denied reconsideration of that motion on January 3, 2013. On January 9, 2013, plaintiffs appealed the issue to the Seventh Circuit, which granted a preliminary injunction as the appeal pended and consolidated the case with Korte v. United States Department of Health and Human Services (FA-IL-0006).The 7th Circuit (Judges Flaum, Sykes, and Rovner) heard arguments in the case on May 22, 2013.

On November 8, 2013, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals (Judge Sykes) reversed and remanded to the district court with instructions to enter a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the contraception mandate. The court emphasized that both the business owners and their companies may challenge the mandate, and that compelling plaintiffs to cover contraception services impermissibly burdened their religious-exercise rights under the RFRA's strict scrutiny test. Grote v. Sebelius, No. 12-3841, 2013 WL 5960692 (7th Cir. Nov. 8, 2013).

On February 20, 2014, the District Court issued a stay pending the Supreme Courts' decision in Hobby Lobby. On August 12, 2014, following the Supreme Court's ruling in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby that held that closely-held religious for-profit corporations could be eligible for the contraceptive services mandate accommodation, the Seventh Circuit awarded the plaintiffs $845.16 in costs. On April 30, 2015, the District Court issued a permanent injunction against the defendants, enjoining them from enforcing the requirements of the contraceptive services mandate against the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs and the defendant agreed to a settlement on attorneys' fees and costs on September 28, 2015.

This case is now closed.

Wyatt Fore - 04/12/2013
Richard Jolly - 03/23/2014
Kate Craddock - 02/19/2016


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