Friday, March 31, 2006

Living Wage Lawsuit Dropped

Journal Staff Report
Santa Fe's living wage law has survived another legal challenge.
    A federal court lawsuit by Heritage Home Healthcare Inc., seeking to have the minimum wage ordinance declared unconstitutional, has been dropped.
    Paul Kennedy of Albuquerque, the company's attorney, filed the notice of dismissal Feb. 21, court records show.
    The one-sentence notice didn't give a reason for dropping the suit, which Kennedy filed on behalf of Heritage in December.
    Kennedy declined comment on Thursday. Len Trainor, Heritage's president, was out of town and couldn't be reached for comment, according to a member of his staff.
    There is now no pending litigation against the living wage law, which under an increase approved by the City Council late last year sets the minimum pay rate for companies with 25 or more employees at $9.50 an hour. The federal minimum wage rate is $5.15 an hour.
Santa Fe is one of only a handful of cities with a local minimum wage that extends broadly into the private sector.
    In December, the New Mexico Court of Appeals upheld the living wage ordinance and the plaintiffs in that state court case— including the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce— did not take the case to the state Supreme Court.
    A previous federal court challenge filed by Coca-Cola's Santa Fe affiliate was also dropped without ever going to trial.
    Heritage's federal suit maintained that Santa Fe's minimum wage unconstitutionally treats similar businesses and workers differently, puts too much enforcement power in the hands of the city manager and tries to force businesses into union agreements.
    Some of the same arguments failed to strike down the law in state court.
    The living wage law, which went into effect in 2004, set an $8.50 an hour minimum pay rate before the council voted to approve the increase to $9.50, effective Jan. 1. Trainor has maintained that his company was losing money paying the $8.50 an hour rate.