LTC 073-2019 2019-02-05 LTC Minimum Wage Supreme Court Decision MAM 1 B
OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY
073-2019
LTC No.
LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Dan Gelber
Members of the City Commission
FROM: Raul J. Aguila, City Attorn\`��
DATE: February 6, 2019
SUBJECT: 2019-02-05 LTC Minimum Wage Supreme Court Decision
On June 8, 2016, the City Commission enacted Ord. No. 2016-4020 entitled, "CITY MINIMUM
LIVING WAGE." The Minimum Wage Ordinance required businesses holding a Business Tax
Receipt issued by the City to pay the City's minimum wage (starting at$10.31 in 2018 and rising
a dollar per year to $13.31 in 2021) to workers subject to the federal minimum wage. Tipped
employees received a lesser increase. The City knew when the Ordinance was enacted that it
would draw a legal challenge, and it did.
This Letter to Commission is to advise you of recent developments in litigation challenging our
Minimum Wage Ordinance, City of Miami Beach v. Florida Retail Federation. The lawsuit was
brought by the Florida Retail Federation and other trade groups arguing that a 2003 Florida state
statute preempting local minimum wage laws invalidated the City's Ordinance. The City
defended the Ordinance on the ground that the 2004 Minimum Wage Amendment to the Florida
Constitution expressly stated that it did not prohibit local minimum wage ordinances. The State
of Florida intervened in the lawsuit for the purpose of defending the continuing vitality of the
2003 Preemption Statute.
On March 30, 2017, a Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge entered summary judgment against the
City and on December 13, 2017, Florida's Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court
decision. We then sought review in the Florida Supreme Court. On August 29, 2018, the Florida
Supreme Court voted 4-3 to accept jurisdiction and agreed to decide the constitutionality of our
Ordinance and the Preemption Statute.
We believe that we had the votes to win the case based upon the four justices who voted to take
the case up, and it was always our strategy to get the issue before those justices for a decision.
Unfortunately, though we worked hard to get the case before the Court expeditiously, three of
the four justices who voted to take the case were forced into mandatory retirement in January
2019. At that time,the Court had not yet decided the case on the merits. Governor Rick DeSantis
then appointed three new justices, creating a much different court. Today, the newly constituted
Supreme Court voted to discharge jurisdiction and dismiss our case. This was not unexpected
given the composition of the new Court,but it is nonetheless deeply disappointing.
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical,historic community.
Letter to Commission—Minimum Wage Supreme Court Decision
February 6, 2019
Page 2
We knew that this case would present an uphill legal battle for the City, but our strategy was
always to fight this out in the Florida Supreme Court. We were right on the issues, and, as we
projected, we had the votes to win. We just missed reaching the Court in time by about a month.
As a result,we will be unable to enforce our Ordinance.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank First Assistant City Attorney Rob Rosenwald and
former Chief Deputy City Attorney Donald Papy for their tireless work on this case for the last
three years. The case was litigated entirely in house and I am proud that our lawyers can go
head-to-head with anyone, anywhere, in any court, to represent the values of the City of Miami
Beach.
RJA/RR/mmm
F:\ATTO\AGUR\CITY ATTORNEY\LTC\2019\LTC-Minium Wage.docx
We are committed to providing excellent public service and safety to all who live, work, and play in our vibrant, tropical,historic community.