Back in March, a three-judge panel in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the city in a legal challenge to the its ordinance mandating that hotels provide healthcare benefits to their employees. As expected, the plaintiffs in the case, the ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC), have asked the full Ninth Circuit to hear the case en banc.
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Ninth Circuit upholds Seattle hotel workers healthcare mandate
In a super-fast turnaround, today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Seattle’s ordinance requiring hotel employers to make minimum monthly expenditures for their employees’ healthcare.
Continue readingAppeal of hotel-worker healthcare mandate gets its day in court
On Monday, a panel of 9th Circuit Court of Appeals judges heard oral arguments in an appeal of the City of Seattle’s ordinance mandating that hotel companies provide healthcare benefits to their workers.
Continue readingERIC revises its lawsuit challenging part of hotel-worker bill
When Initiative 124 passed, it attracted two lawsuits: one that tried to invalidate the entire bill, and another that attacked only one part: the requirement that hotel employers purchase health insurance for their employees. Last summer, facing an almost certain loss in the courts, Council member Mosqueda led an effort that repealed I-124 and replaced it with four separate, modified bills that she hoped would resolve the legal challenges in the two cases. But as expected today the plaintiff in the second case, ERIC, filed an updated complaint arguing that the rewritten bill requiring employers to provide healthcase, still violates …
Continue readingHotel workers bills advance out of committee
This morning, the City Council voted out of committee four bills, creating new protections for hotel workers, which have been in the works for several months. Once voted into law, it will replace the embattled Initiative 124.
Continue readingHotel worker protection bills take shape, get amended (updated)
Two of the four bills that Council member Teresa Mosqueda is sponsoring to extend additional protections and rights to hotel workers saw lengthy discussions last Friday, as well as significant amendments adopted that address some of the most pointed criticisms of the bills.
Continue readingHotel workers’ bills draw opposition at public hearing
This evening the City Council held a public hearing on four bills that Council members Mosqueda and Gonzalez have introduced as a replacement for Initiative 124. As expected, hotel workers and labor representatives showed up to urge the Council to pass the ordinances. But hotel managers and other small business owners also showed up in numbers to state their opposition to some of the provisions in the bills – particularly the health insurance mandate.
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