Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against Seattle's Hazard Pay Ordinance

SEATTLE — A legal effort to block Seattle's $4 hazard pay ordinance for employees of large grocers was dismissed with prejudice by a federal judge Thursday.

The City Council approved the emergency measure in January with strong support from labor unions, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and other city leaders. Council members noted that most grocery chains had voluntarily provided added pay early on in the pandemic, but most stopped last summer, despite earning record profits. Budget chair Teresa Mosqueda described the extra $4 in hourly pay as the "least we can do" to compensate essential workers for added health risks on the job.

The law applies only to grocery chains with stores larger than 10,000 square feet in Seattle and more than 500 employees worldwide. Convenience stores and food marts "primarily selling a limited line of goods" are explicitly exempt.

Related: QFC To Close 2 Seattle Stores, Citing City's Hazard Pay Ordinance

The suit, filed by two grocery groups in February, argued the law unfairly and illegally singled out large employers and improperly interfered with collective bargaining.

In his ruling Thursday, U.S. District Judge John Coughenour disagreed, finding it within the city's authority to take such action and to apply it more narrowly.

"Given the city's findings that large grocery businesses have earned record profits during COVID-19...and that grocery store employees are at significantly heightened risk of contracting COVID-19...This is a reasonable grounds for the distinctions drawn in the ordinance," Coughenour writes.

UFCW 21, which counts thousands of grocery store workers in its ranks, welcomed the judge's decision Thursday. Faye Gunther, the union's president, said the ruling was also a "big win" for other cities considering passing similar laws.

Gunther writes:

"We have pushed for hazard pay for essential grocery store workers since May when the corporations running the stores decided, without even giving a reason, to cut the hazard pay that had been in place. The city’s hazard pay ordinance is a good law that provides temporary additional pay to the frontline workers in our grocery stores who have been putting their health and safety on the line every day since the pandemic began. The pay provides some additional income for these workers as their jobs have increased risk, increased demands, and increased hazards. And these workers’ labor is what has allowed the rest of the us in the community to get access to the food and other necessities we need and has resulted in the huge increased profits for the grocery store corporations."

Related: $4 Hazard Pay Ordinance Approved By King County Council