A Guide to the Supreme Court's Review of the Contraceptive Coverage Requirement

Appendix A

Selected cases where the Court of Appeals found neither the corporation nor the owners have protected rights

Lawsuit Owners Type of Business Request Decision
Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Sebelius
Filed 12/4/2012
Hahn family, Mennonites of Pennsylvania Conestoga manufactures wood cabinets and has 950 full time employees. Hahns object to providing health insurance coverage for Plan B and Ella. Third Circuit found that neither the for-profit corporation nor the owners have religious rights under the RFRA or under the First Amendment.
AutoCam Corp. v. Sebelius Filed 10/8/2012 Kennedy family, Roman Catholics of Michigan AutoCam, a high-volume manufacturing for automotive and medical industries, with 14 facilities worldwide and 661 employees in the U.S. Kennedys object to providing health insurance for all contraceptives, sterilization, related education and counseling. Sixth Circuit1 found that AutoCam is not a “person” capable of “religious exercise.” The Court also denied the Kennedys’ legal challenge because they are not being required to act.


Appendix B

Selected Cases2 where the Court of Appeals found the corporation or owners have protected rights

Lawsuit Owners Type of Business Request Decision
Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius
Filed 9/12/2012
Green family, Protestants of Oklahoma Hobby Lobby is a national chain of craft stores with over 500 stores in over 41 states and over 13,000 employees; Mardel is a chain of book stores (also owned by the Green family) with 35 stores in 7 states and 372 full- time employees. Greens object to providing health insurance coverage for Ella, Plan B, and the IUDs. Tenth Circuit3 held that Hobby Lobby and Mardel are likely to succeed on the merits of the RFRA claims. The majority opinion did not address the Green family legal challenge or any of the claims under the First Amendment.
Korte & Luitjohan Contractors Inc. v. SebeliusKorte and Luitjohan Filed 10/9/2012Grote Industries v. SebeliusFiled 10/29/2012 Korte family, Catholic of Illinois (own 87% of stock of Korte and Luitjohan Contractors, Inc.) Grote family, Catholic of Indiana Korte & Luitjohan Contractors, a construction company in Illinois has 90 full time employees, 70 of whom belong to a union that sponsors their health-insurance plan. Grote Industries, Inc. a manufacturer of vehicle safety systems based in Indiana. Grote industries has 1,148 full time employees. Both families oppose providing health insurance coverage for all contraceptives, and sterilization. The Korte family is willing to provide coverage for limited situations where the drugs are being prescribed with the intent to treat certain medical conditions. Seventh Circuit found both the corporations and the owners can challenge the law under the RFRA.
Gilardi v. Department of Health and Human Services
Filed 1/24/2013
Gilardi family, Roman Catholic of Ohio (owns Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics) Freshway Foods and Freshway Logistics -food are processing companies based in Ohio and employ about 400 employees. Gilardis oppose all forms of contraceptives and sterilization. DC Circuit found that corporations cannot “exercise religion” but owners have religious rights under the RFRA.

Broader Ramifications

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