Seattle Defends Hotel Worker Insurance Mandate in Ninth Circuit

Seattle’s hotel worker insurance mandate creates no ERISA-governed plans and is similar to a San Francisco ordinance that has already been upheld, the Washington city told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

The Seattle law was passed by voter-approved initiative, and requires large hotels and related businesses to give workers either health insurance coverage or enhanced compensation, Seattle said in a brief filed Wednesday. It focuses solely on employment and employers and doesn’t involve the core concerns of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, and therefore isn’t preempted, the city said. It’s also “materially identical” to the ...