A federal judge has dismissed claims that a New Jersey hospital’s pension plan is underfunded to the tune of $70 million, citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that exempted certain church-affiliated organizations from regulation under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act.

The pension plan for St. Peter’s Healthcare System is not subject to regulation under ERISA because it is entitled to a “church plan” exemption from the law, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp ruled, citing a 2017 high court ruling in Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton. In that case, the court said that certain pension plans connected to church-related nonprofit organizations count as church plans even if they are not actually administered by a church.