Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. filed suit Wednesday in Federal Court to stop implementation of mandates in the Obama administration’s healthcare law which would require it to cover birth control methods that its ownership says it is opposed to on religious grounds.

David Green, Hobby Lobby CEO and founder, is well-known for running the family company in accordance with his family’s conservative Christian beliefs.  Hobby Lobby stores are closed on Sunday and the company prides itself on paying its employees wages above usual retail industry standards.

Unless the court overturns the coverage mandate in the ACA law, on January 1st Hobby Lobby will be required to begin covering the morning after pill and other forms of contraception such as the IUD, which the company’s ownership holds to be in violation of their religious beliefs, according to the lawsuit filings. They are asking the court to declare the ACA mandate unconstitutional, and for a stay to block it going into effect.   According to a press statement, the company believes they could face fines of $1.3 million per day for failing to comply with the coverage mandate if it is not blocked. [Read more...]

Many thanks to Mike Hartnett of CLN Online for sharing the following information with Scrapbook Update:

David Green, the CEO/Founder of Hobby Lobby, made the recently published annual list of Forbes World Billionaires. Green estimated worth came in at $3 billion, which put him tied for 316th with the likes of Steven Spielberg. The retail magnate placed higher than such legendary tycoons as Mark Cuban, Oprah Winfrey, and Donald Trump on the list.

Hobby Lobby has also been in the news for opening an employee health clinic at its Oklahoma City headquarters, another example of the sort of initiative that leads to its low employee turnover rates. Employees in the company’s health plan will receive free health care at the clinic, while other full-time employees will pay only $30 for an office visit.