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<nobr>Jun 29, 2010</nobr>
ERIC Disappointed in Supreme Court's Refusal to Hear San Francisco Health Ordinance Challenge
ERIC News Release
For Immediate Release: June 29, 2010
The Supreme Court on June 28 denied a petition for certiorari by the Golden Gate Restaurant Association asking the Court to review the decision of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of the Golden Gate Restaurant Association vs. City and County of San Francisco.
In that case, the circuit court held that the city's ordinance mandating specific responsibilities of employers in providing health care coverage was not preempted by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA).
On hearing the Supreme Court's decision to not consider the case, ERIC President Mark Ugoretz made the following statement:
"While the Supreme Court's decision not to review the Ninth Circuit decision doesn't have a substantive effect on the law, we obviously are disappointed in the Supreme Court's refusal to hear the case because we believe that the Court would have struck down the ordinance. The Court gave no reason for denying review and no conclusions can be drawn from its decision.
"ERIC believes that the Ninth Circuit decision undermines ERISA's statutory requirement barring state regulation of employers' uniform employee benefits. If other municipalities were to follow San Francisco, multi-state employers -- who generally provide the most comprehensive benefit plans -- could be faced with thousands of varying rules on how those plans must be administered.
"ERISA preemption is essential for employers with employees in many different jurisdictions. Under ERISA, multi-state employers are able to offer a single, coordinated package of employee health care benefits to all eligible employees, regardless of where they live or work or may be transferred.
"If other cities and states follow in San Francisco's footsteps, it would substantially increase the cost and complexity of providing health care coverage at time when coverage is already prohibitively expensive. As a result, many employers would be forced to reduce or eliminate benefits for employees and their families or pass on increased costs. In addition, employees working side-by-side for the same employer in neighboring jurisdictions could have different benefits depending on local rules -- that's unfair and an unreasonable burden on employers and their workers."
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For more information:
Ted Godbout
Director, Communications
The ERISA Industry Committee
1400 L Street, NW, Suite 350
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 789-1400
Fax: (202) 789-1120
tgodbout@eric.org
www.eric.org
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The ERISA Industry Committee (ERIC) is a non-profit association committed to representing the advancement of the employee retirement, health, and compensation plans of America's largest employers. ERIC's members provide benchmark retirement, health care coverage, compensation, and other economic security benefits directly to tens of millions of active and retired workers and their families. ERIC has a strong interest in proposals affecting its members' ability to deliver those benefits, their cost and their effectiveness, as well as the role of those benefits in the American economy.
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