Cooperative Home Care, Inc. v. City of St. Louis

St. Louis City’s Ordinance 70078 establishes a citywide local minimum wage. The trial court invalidated the Ordinance because it requires a higher minimum wage than the state requires in Mo. Rev. Stat. 290.502. In so ruling, the trial court concluded that Mo. Rev. Stat. 71.010, which includes a general prohibition on local laws that conflict with state laws, would bar such supplemental local minimum wage ordinances. The Supreme Court reversed the portion of the judgment invalidating Ordinance 70078, holding (1) the trial court correctly found that Mo. Rev. Stat. 67.1571 does not preempt Ordinance 70078 because section 67.1571 was enacted in a manner that violates Mo. Const. art. III, 23; (2) Missouri’s minimum wage law does not occupy the field of minimum wage laws, nor does it prohibit the adoption of local minimum wage ordinances such as Ordinance 70078; and (3) Ordinance 70078 is within the municipality’s police powers, and the City did not exceed its authority in enacting the minimum wage ordinance. View "Cooperative Home Care, Inc. v. City of St. Louis" on Justia Law