Ninth Circuit Upholds San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance

On Tuesday, September 30, 2008, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its decision in Golden Gate Restaurant Association v. City of San Francisco, 2008 WL 4401387 (9th Cir. 2008). In this case, the Golden Gate Restaurant Association (the “Association”) and the Department of Labor (DOL) challenged a portion of the San Francisco Health Care Security Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) requiring employers to make a certain level of health care expenditures on behalf of employees in San Francisco. The Ninth Circuit rejected arguments that the employer spending requirements were preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA).