Healthy San Francisco Now May Go to the U.S. Supreme Court

On March 9, 2009 the Ninth Circuit turned down the Golden Gate Restaurant Association’s (Association) appeal to have the full eleven judge Ninth Circuit panel hear its appeal to overturn the City and County of San Francisco’s “Healthy San Francisco”.

The ruling by the three judge panel reiterated the same reasoning which led to the original denial of the Association’s appeal. Not unsurprisingly, the Association intends to appeal this new ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court. Judge Reinhardt and Judge Fletcher voted to deny the petition. Judge Milan D. Smith wrote a dissenting opinion which embraces the importance of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) and the need for a national scheme using ERISA’s principals and supporting federal court Judge White’s original ruling against the employer mandate.

Both the Association and the dissenting opinion point out the national significance of the issue and the need for the Supreme Court to rule. In 1974 ERISA became law for the purpose of setting national standards for employee benefit plans. A Supreme Court ruling could achieve a similar purpose.

We will keep you informed of developments. In the meantime, San Francisco employers remain subject to the employer contribution requirements under Healthy San Francisco.



Copyright © 2009 Alfred B. Fowler, Attorney at Law.
All Rights Reserved. Reprinted with permission.