Last month ERIC, an industry association, sued the City of Seattle over a portion of Initiative 124 that requires companies to either provide gold-level healthcare to hotel workers or compensate them accordingly. Yesterday, the City of Seattle and ERIC filed with the court an agreement that the city would not attempt to enforce that provision of I-124 until January in exchange for an extension of time to file its legal brief in defense of the ordinance.
The city agreed not to enforce Part 3 of Initiative 124, which contains the healthcare provisions ERIC objects to, until January 1, 2019. In exchange, the filing deadline for the city’s brief is pushed out to October 4 (the original deadline was yesterday). ERIC also agreed not to seek an injunction preventing enforcement of Part 3 before January 1. This “gentlemen’s agreement” avoids legal wrangling over an injunction and hopefully will lead to faster final resolution of the case — at least at the district court level.
The parties are required to file a joint status report with the court by October 30. Meanwhile, a separate legal challenge to Initiative 124 is being heard by a state appeals court.