NINTH CIRCUIT ISSUES OPINION REVERSING LOWER COURT DECISION AND HOLDS AGAINST THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO
October 30, 2023
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a district court decision that sided with the City and County of San Francisco. The parties to the dispute are the City and County of San Francisco (the City) who own and operate San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Airlines for America (A4A) who represent airlines that contract with the City to use SFO. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the City enacted the Healthy Airports Ordinance (HAO), a policy similar to the Healthy Terminals Act (“HTA”) codified in New York, requiring airlines who use SFO to provide employees with certain health insurance benefits. Like the HTA, HAO requires employees to either offer qualifying health plan benefits to each Covered Employee or pay $9.50 per employee per hour towards the “Healthy Access Program.” The Ninth Court found that the HAO is preempted by federal law resulting in the Court finding against the City.
If you have any questions, please contact Evelyn Sahr at 202.659.6622 or esahr@eckertseamans.com; Drew Derco at 202.659.6665 or dderco@eckertseamans.com; David Rockman at 412.566.1999 or drockman@eckertseamans.com; Jay Julien at 202.659.6648 or jjulien@eckertseamans.com, or any other attorney at Eckert Seamans with whom you have been working.
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