Date Filed: July 30, 2019
Original Court: U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
Case Status: Victory
In April 2019, the City of Dallas enacted an ordinance requiring private employers to provide their employees up to 64 hours of paid sick leave annually. CAF represented two small business employers—a temporary staffing agency and a small law firm—challenging the constitutionality of the Ordinance. CAF argued that Dallas’s paid sick leave ordinance was preempted by the Texas Minimum Wage Act, which mandates that cities cannot establish a minimum wage higher than that set by the Federal government. Since the federal minimum wage law only requires a minimum wage for hours worked, a business is typically not required to compensate employees for hours not worked. However, under Dallas’s Ordinance, an employer must pay the minimum wage to employees when they are sick, even though they are not working. Compliance with the Ordinance for employers would have been upwards of $200,000 a year, forcing the businesses to lower wages or raise costs. The Court ultimately ruled in favor of ESI and Hagan Law Group, striking down Dallas’s ordinance and reenforcing the principle that cities cannot violate state law.
Case Documents:
Opinion and Order Denying Motion to Transfer Venue
Response to Motion for Summary Judgment