JAN 2 8 2002

EMPLOYER STATUS DETERMINATION

Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association

This is the determination of the Railroad Retirement Board concerning

the status of Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association as an

employer under the Railroad Retirement Act (45 U.S.C. § 231 et seq.)

and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (45 U.S.C. § 351 et 

se^.).

The Association maintains a national network of medical providers for

its members, who are employees or former employees of the Union

Pacific Railroad Company (B.A. No. 1713), the Utah Railway (B.A. No.

2746), and Amtrak (B.A. No. 8301). The Association began providing 

benefits in January 1883 and was incorporated in 1968. It currently

has 3,012 members. The provision of medical services is financed by

payments from the employees and from their rail employers.

The Association is controlled by a Board of Directors, the members of

which are selected by an Advisory Committee from members of the 

Committee1. The Committee is made up of “present members from the

former DRGW/SP [Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad and 

Southern Pacific Transportation Company] rail labor organizations.”

There is no evidence that the Fund is controlled by or under common

control with a railroad carrier or a railroad carrier affiliate.

The term “employer” under section 1(a)(1) of the Railroad Retirement

Act includes:

(i) any carrier by railroad subject to the jurisdiction of

the Surface Transportation Board under part A of subtitle IV

of title 49, United States Code;

(ii) any company which is directly or indirectly owned

or controlled by, or under common control with, one or more

employers as defined in paragraph (i) of this subdivision,

1 The Articles ofIncorporation ofthe Association provide that the “seventh member ofthe [seven-person] Board of

Directors shall be appointed by [The] Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad Company.”
-2-

Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association

and which operates any equipment or facility or performs 

any service (except trucking service, casual service, and the 

casual operation of equipment or facilities) in connection 

with the transportation of passengers or property by

railroad, or the receipt, delivery, elevation, transfer in 

transit, refrigeration or icing, storage, or handling of

property transported by railroad;

(iii) any receiver, trustee, or other individual or body,

judicial or otherwise, when in the possession of the property 

or operating all or any part of the business of any employer

as defined in paragraph (i) or (ii) of this subdivision;

(iv) any railroad association, traffic association, tariff

bureau, demurrage bureau, weighing and inspection bureau, 

collection agency, and any other association, bureau, agency,

or organization which is controlled and maintained wholly or

principally by two or more employers as defined in

paragraph (i), (ii), or (iii) of this subdivision and which is

engaged in the performance of services in connection with or

incidental to railroad transportation; and

(v) any railway labor organization, national in scope,

which has been or may be organized in accordance with the 

provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, and its 

State and National legislative committees, general

committees, insurance departments, and local lodges and

divisions, established pursuant to the constitution or bylaws

of such organization. 45 U.S.C. § 231(a)(1).

Pursuant to the above-quoted provisions of the Railroad Retirement

Act, covered railroad employers include carriers and their affiliates

which provide railroad-related services; designated operators of

carriers; associations controlled by carriers and employers under 

paragraphs (i), (ii), or (iii), and railroad unions and their local lodges.

The Association is not a rail carrier or affiliated with a rail carrier. The
Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association

Association does not meet the definition in paragraph (v) as a labor

organization employer. The only paragraph of section 1(a)(1) that might

apply to the Association is paragraph (iv). The evidence in the record is

that the Association is controlled by a Board of Directors comprised of

seven members. Of the seven members, one is appointed by a rail

carrier. The other members are appointed by rail labor organizations.

The evidence does not support a finding that the Association is wholly

or principally controlled and maintained by two or more employers

under paragraphs (i), (ii), and (iii) of section 1(a)(1) of the RRA.

Accordingly, the Board finds that the Association is not a covered

employer under the Railroad Retirement and Railroad Unemployment

Insurance Acts.