On November 14, 2013, a for-profit corporation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota under 42 U.S.C. §1983, Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Administrative Procedure Act against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The plaintiff asked ...
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On November 14, 2013, a for-profit corporation filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota under 42 U.S.C. §1983, Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) and the Administrative Procedure Act against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The plaintiff asked the court to rule that the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) contraception insurance mandate was unconstitutional. Specifically, the plaintiff asked for a permanent injunction keeping the government from enforcing the contraception insurance mandate against the corporation because it violated the owner's religious freedom.
On November 22, 2013, the plaintiff filed an unopposed motion for preliminary injunction and stay of proceedings. On November 27, 2013, Judge Joan N. Ericksen of the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota granted the motion and stayed the case pending resolution of the appeal in either of the cases (1)
O'Brien v. U.S. Dep't of Health and Human Services, 894 F.Supp.2d 1149 (E.D. Mo. 2012) or (2)
Annex Medical, Inc. v. Sebelius, No. 12–2804 2013 WL 101927 (D. Minn. Jan. 8, 2013), or until the Supreme Court issued a ruling in a substantially similar case, whichever occurred first. Both of the aforementioned cases involved similar legal issues and the same defendant.
On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court issued a decision in
Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., 134 S. Ct. 2751 (2014), a substantially similar case. In a 5-4 opinion by Justice Alito, the Court held that the HHS regulations imposing the contraceptive mandate violate RFRA, when applied to closely-held for-profit corporations.
In light of this decision, on November 14, 2014, the parties jointly submitted a Stipulation for Entry of Judgment and Injunction in Favor of Plaintiffs and Stipulation for Fee Motion Briefing Schedule, which permanently enjoined the defendants from (1) enforcing the ACA's contraceptive coverage requirement, (2) assessing any penalties or fines for noncompliance, and (3) taking any other actions based on noncompliance with the requirement.
On November 18, 2014, Judge Ericksen issued a judgment accepting the parties' submission. On December 30, 2014, the parties stipulated for an extension of time for the plaintiffs' motion for attorneys' fees. Judge Ericksen granted this stipulation in an order extending the deadline to March 3, 2015. The docket shows no record of the plaintiffs moving for attorneys' fees, and the case now appears closed.
Mallory Jones - 03/15/2014
Elizabeth Greiter - 11/02/2017
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