DALLAS (1080 KRLD)- A federal judge has struck down the Dallas sick leave ordinance.
In a 26-page ruling, Sherman Federal Judge Sean Jordan found the Dallas attempt to force employers to provide paid sick leave is a form of a wage and is controlled by the Texas Minimum Wage Act. State law preempts local ordinances, the judge found.
“Each day the Ordinance operates against the express mandate of the Texas legislature to preempt local laws governing wages, the State’s sovereignty is violated and the relationship between the legislature and local governments, guaranteed by the Texas Constitution, is turned on its head,” the ruling read.
For the foregoing reasons, the State of Texas and the Employer-Plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction is granted.”
The judge noted similar efforts have been rejected by Texas Courts in local ordinances that were almost identical to the Dallas ordinance. A case from Austin was dismissed by the 3rd Court of Appeals and was rejected by the Supreme Court of Texas. A similar case from San Antonio was also turned down by the 4th Court of Appeals. That case has not been vetted by the Supreme Court.
“It was unconstitutional for cities like Dallas, Austin and San Antonio to adopt these paid sick leave ordinances, which, at their core, involved how much employers were supposed to pay their employee.” Said Robert Henneke, an attorney for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which has fought the suits. “Judge Jordan entered final judgement declaring the ordinance unconstitutional and entered an injunction prohibiting its enforcement.
An attorney for the City of Dallas said the city had no comment at this time.