By David A. Wise
WisBusiness.com
The judge overseeing the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce’s lawsuit over the city of Milwaukee’s paid sick leave ordinance said he’ll likely rule on the case within 30 days.
Both sides of the suit were in court Monday for a three-hour hearing on the ordinance, which voters approved.
MMAC, the city and 9to5 once again laid out their arguments over the ordinance, which has been put on hold while the lawsuit works its way through the system.
MMAC argued that the ordinance is pre-empted by and conflicts with Wisconsin’s living wage law, the state and federal family medical leave acts and worker’s compensation regulations.
But 9to5, which helped get the ordinance on the ballot for voter approval, countered those regulations set a floor and the sick day ordinance would be a complement those rules.
MMAC also argued that 9to5 failed to establish a rational basis for the ordinance. 9to5 has pointed out that workers around the country use 2.7 sick days a year. That means the nine days that would be required under the ordinance for larger employers is three times the demonstrated need, MMAC argued.
The 9to5 lawyers disagreed, saying the only rational basis it had to provide was that there was a link between sick days and public health.
The two sides also debated whether the court could strike down parts of the law or had to throw out the entire ordinance if any part was found invalid.
