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Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance _ Dallas City Hall _ Dallas News8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 1/12 Don't miss a story. Like us on Facebook. Suspect drove 10 hours from Allen before massacre, chief says Like 452K Staff Photographer El Paso shooting Y E S T E R D AY Why Austin's legal ght leaves Dallas in uphill battleWhy Austin's legal ght leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinanceto save paid sick time ordinance Hayat Norimine, City Hall Reporter D AL L A S C I TY H A LL ALL SECTIONS 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 2/12 Workers and labor groups celebrated when Dallas last week became the first Texas city to implement an ordinance that mandates businesses provide paid sick leave to employees. But after two companies sued the city last week in federal court, several appellate and employment lawyers interviewed by The Dallas Morning News said the city's ordinance now faces an uphill battle for survival in the courts. That's largely related to the challenges faced by the other two major Texas cities that mandated paid sick leave. A state appeals court already ruled against Austin's law in November 2018. And San Antonio delayed implementation of its own ordinance pending a legal challenge in state court. Kent Rutter, an appellate lawyer based in Houston, said Dallas should expect a tough road ahead. "They have a decision from three well-respected judges on the Court of Appeals in Austin ruling that the state law prevents cities from enacting these ordinances," Rutter said. "And that's a difficult hurdle to overcome." Two companies sue Dallas in bid to stop paid sick time ordinance D A LL A S C I TY HA L L State and federal issues The state appellate court's three-judge panel last year is the main hurdle. The court concluded that Austin's sick leave ordinance indirectly regulates wages, which is the role of the state and federal governments. The court reasoned that because the ordinance requires employers to pay for time off, it therefore affects the rate workers are paid. But what makes Dallas different is that the case will be fought for now in federal court rather than state court. The lawsuit in the U.S. Eastern District of Texas argues that the city's ordinance violates both the state's minimum wage act and the U.S. Constitution. The plaintiffs argued that the ordinance violates the rights to freedom of association, equal protection for non-unionized employers, and 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 3/12 the right to be free of unreasonable searches and seizures because of the city's subpoena power over business records to investigate complaints. Dallas' ordinance, which the City Council passed in April on a 10-4 vote, mandates that employees who work at least 80 hours a year in the city accrue one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Businesses with more than 15 employees can cap the sick leave hours at 64 hours, while smaller businesses can cap the available sick leave hours at 48. Labor groups and progressive politicians had pushed the ordinance, touting it as beneficial to workers trying to make a living and generally to public health. But some business owners — especially in the service industry — have argued that the ordinance is unnecessarily burdensome and costly. Area chambers of commerce and the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation rallied to their side. People celebrated after seeing the vote for earned paid sick time leave passed during a City Council meeting at Dallas City Hall on  April 24, 2019. (Vernon Bryant/Staff Photographer) Legal strategy An attorney with the foundation, representing the two companies, filed the lawsuit against the city of Dallas. Plaintiffs generally file the lawsuit in the court they believe would give them the 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 4/12 best chance to succeed, other lawyers said. But they believe the decision to go to federal court in this case could be more calculated. David Furlow, a lawyer and executive editor of the Journal of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society, said one reason for the federal filing is that a federal judge with a lifetime appointment could be less susceptible to political pressures. Furlow also said the need for speed could be a factor. In his experience as an attorney, federal courts tend to rule more quickly on cases, he said. And paid sick leave ordinances have become more popular across the country as localities try "to get around state legislatures," Furlow said. Taking the matter to federal court could have a greater impact and snuff out a possible patchwork of ordinances, which conservative groups and businesses believe could be harmful. Rutter said the city could argue that the federal judge should toss the lawsuit and let the state deal with it. But Julie Heath, an employment lawyer in Dallas, said it's unlikely that the federal judge wouldn't rule on the case. "I see no reason why a federal court in the Eastern District of Texas is not going to come to the same determination that the Austin Court of Appeals came to," Heath said. 'Human right' or 'unnecessary red tape'? Dallas businesses scrambling over new paid sick time law D A LL A S C I TY HA L L 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 5/12 A girl held a sign during during a news conference about a paid sick time ordinance outside of the Dallas City Hall on June 20, 2019. (Shaban Athuman/Staff Photographer) A Supreme battle? While Dallas fights over the lawsuit in federal court, Austin will also likely continue its battle up to the Texas Supreme Court. Austin appealed the state appellate court's decision up to the higher court in an effort to keep the ordinance alive. Rutter, who has experience arguing before the Supreme Court on an employment dispute, believes the state's highest civil court will want to take up the case because of its broad impact, relevance to multiple jurisdictions and implications for state preemption. "Obviously this is an issue of statewide importance," Rutter said. "It affects potentially thousands of businesses and hundreds of thousands of workers. The court is really cognizant of its responsibility to weigh in on issues that are going to affect the lives of many Texans."  But Rutter said that could take a while — maybe even over a year. 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 6/12 MORE IN NEWS NEWS Activist urges release of Bonnen tapes, O'Rourke slams Trump, new prez race poll, Marchant bows out VIEW COMMENTS D AL L A S C I TY H A LL CO U RT S D A LL A S D AL L A S C ITY CO U N CI L BUSI N ESS While Rutter said he thinks labor has a compelling argument that the paid sick leave doesn't touch wages, the attorneys agreed that the state's conservative Supreme Court will follow the footsteps of the appellate court and rule against Austin's ordinance. Rutter said the state Supreme Court also has a history of ruling in favor of state laws over municipalities. In another case that relates to preemption, the high court prevented Laredo from enacting an ordinance that banned single-use plastic bags in stores. The vote then was unanimous. Heath said she didn't think the paid sick leave law could pass legal muster in any case. The only way to change the law "to make it legal," she said, was to protect employees who take sick leave rather than mandating that it's offered.  Otherwise, making the sick time ordinance stand "would take a lot of thought," she said. "The Austin court looked at that and said, 'It's a wage.'" 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 7/12 BUSINESS AI company Hypergiant to help consulting rm turn intellectual property into products 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 8/12 NEWS NBC 5 Forecast: It's all about the heat for the rest of the week NEWS New poll:Biden leads O'Rourke in Texas presidential primary race 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 9/12 New poll: Biden leads O'Rourke in Texas presidential primary, race against Sen. John Cornyn wide open LIFE Blackberry Mountain offers a luxe retreat at the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 10/12 OPINION Cost overruns, write-offs, a sinking stock price: When will Fluor’s epic failures end? 8/6/2019 Why Austin's legal fight leaves Dallas in uphill battle to save paid sick time ordinance | Dallas City Hall | Dallas News https://www.dallasnews.com/news/dallas-city-hall/2019/08/05/austins-legal-fight-leaves-dallas-uphill-battle-save-paid-sick-time-ordinance 11/12 TRENDING ARTICLES Texas man charged for midair meltdown challenges law, saying it was just rudeness... ‘Brutally candid,’ ‘damaging,’ ‘embarrassing’: Some urging... 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