State Supreme Court Affirms Cities’ Authority on Worker Protection Ordinances

Many California cities have approved “worker-retention ordinances,” which are intended to protect workers from being fired when their company changes owners. The California Grocers Association sued the city of Los Angeles for putting such an ordinance on the books, and in the case’s latest court outcome, the State Supreme Court affirmed the authority of cities to implement worker-retention policies. As a result, similar ordinances that have been adopted in Oakland and several other Bay Area communities will stand.

Over the summer, the Supreme Court upheld the Los Angeles ordinance, and it was this week that the high court rejected an appeal by supermarket owners. The Los Angeles ordinance in question stipulated that supermarkets had to keep their workforce for 90 days after a new owner takes the reins, which rubbed the Grocers Association the wrong way. The Chronicle reports on the case’s evolution:

“Lower courts had ruled that the ordinance interfered with federal authority over labor-management relations. But the state court said federal labor law does not give an employer the absolute right to choose its employees, and does not prevent state and local governments from regulating hiring and firing.”

The Grocers Association tried to argue that the city’s policy denies new grocery store owners the right to select their own workers unless they agree to maintain a unionized workforce.