Minn. Chamber Commerce v. City of Minneapolis

928 N.W.2d 757
CourtCourt of Appeals of Minnesota
DecidedApril 29, 2019
DocketA18-0771
StatusPublished

This text of 928 N.W.2d 757 (Minn. Chamber Commerce v. City of Minneapolis) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Minnesota primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Minn. Chamber Commerce v. City of Minneapolis, 928 N.W.2d 757 (Mich. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

BJORKMAN, Judge

These related appeals concern a City of Minneapolis ordinance that requires employers to provide sick-and-safe leave. Respondents Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, et al. (the chamber) contend that state law conflicts with and impliedly preempts the ordinance. Appellant City of Minneapolis challenges the district court's ruling that application of the ordinance to employers located outside the city violates the extraterritoriality doctrine. We affirm the district court's determination that state law does not preempt the ordinance. But because we conclude that the ordinance does not have extraterritorial operation, we reverse in part, vacating the permanent injunction against the city enforcing the ordinance against employers located outside of the city.

FACTS

On May 31, 2016, the city enacted the sick-and-safe-leave ordinance (ordinance), Minneapolis, Minn., Code of Ordinances (MCO) §§ 40.10-.310 (2017), in order "to safeguard the public welfare, health, safety *761and prosperity of the people of ... the City." MCO § 40.30(e). The ordinance generally defines an employee as "any individual employed by an employer ... who perform[s] work within the geographic boundaries of the City for at least eighty (80) hours in a year" (80-hour threshold). MCO § 40.40. The ordinance defines an employer as "a person or entity that employs one (1) or more employees." Id.1

The key provisions of the ordinance require employers to provide employees "one (1) hour of sick and safe time for every thirty (30) hours worked up to a maximum of forty-eight (48) hours in a ... year." MCO § 40.210(a). The leave must be paid unless the employer has five or fewer employees. MCO § 40.220(g)-(h). Leave may be used for the employee's or a family member's needs related to health, domestic abuse, sexual assault, stalking, and school, daycare, and workplace closings. MCO § 40.220(b)(1)-(6). The ordinance requires employers to track the accrual and use of leave time. MCO § 40.270. The ordinance was to take effect on July 1, 2017, with limited enforcement during the first year. MCO § 40.90.

In October 2016, the chamber initiated this action, seeking declaratory relief and a temporary injunction prohibiting the city from enforcing the ordinance. The district court granted the chamber partial temporary relief, concluding that the chamber was unlikely to prevail on its preemption claims but likely to prevail on its claim that the ordinance impermissibly operates outside "the geographic borders of the City." Applying the severability doctrine, the district court upheld the ordinance and issued a temporary injunction that enjoined the city from enforcing the ordinance "against any employer resident outside the geographic boundaries of the City" until after adjudication of the case on its merits.

Both parties appealed. This court affirmed the district court's preliminary rulings as within its discretion. Minn. Chamber of Commerce v. City of Minneapolis , No. A17-0131, 2017 WL 4105201, at *2-4, *6 (Minn. App. Sept. 18, 2017), review denied (Minn. Nov. 28, 2017). We upheld the district court's reliance on the extraterritoriality doctrine to temporarily enjoin the city from enforcing the ordinance as to employers that resided outside of the city. Id . at *5.

In 2018, the city amended the ordinance to address the district court's concerns about its geographic reach. As amended, the ordinance provides that sick-and-safe leave only accrues for hours an employee works "within the geographic boundaries of the City." MCO 40.210(a) (2018). And sick-and-safe leave may only be used "when the employee is scheduled to perform work within the geographic boundaries of the City." MCO 40.220(k) (2018).

Both parties moved for summary judgment. The district court again rejected the chamber's argument that state law conflicts with or impliedly preempts the ordinance. But the court granted the chamber's motion as to the ordinance's extraterritorial operation, subject to the severability doctrine. The district court "enjoined [the city] from enforcing the Ordinance against any employer resident outside the geographic boundaries of the City of Minneapolis." The city appealed, and the chamber filed a cross-appeal.

ISSUES

I. Does state law preempt the ordinance?

*762II. Does the ordinance violate the extraterritoriality doctrine because it applies to employers that are located outside of the city?

ANALYSIS

I. State law does not preempt the ordinance.

The City of Minneapolis is a home-rule charter city. Accordingly, in municipal matters, the city has "all the legislative power possessed by the legislature of the state, save as such power is expressly or impliedly withheld." Bolen v. Glass , 755 N.W.2d 1, 4-5 (Minn. 2008) (quotation omitted). Among these broad powers is the power to enact ordinances "to promote the health, safety, and welfare of residents." Builders Ass'n of Minn. v. City of St. Paul , 819 N.W.2d 172, 180 (Minn. App. 2012).

A state statute may preempt a municipal ordinance (1) expressly, (2) by "[implied] preemption, when a city ordinance attempts to regulate conduct in a field that the state legislature intended the state law to exclusively occupy," or (3) because the two conflict. State v. Kuhlman , 722 N.W.2d 1, 4 (Minn. App. 2006), aff'd , 729 N.W.2d 577 (Minn. 2007). Whether state law preempts a municipal ordinance is a legal question that we review de novo. Bicking v. City of Minneapolis , 891 N.W.2d 304, 312 (Minn. 2017).

No state statute expressly preempts the ordinance. But the chamber argues that the ordinance is void under the theories of conflict preemption and implied preemption. We address each argument in turn.

A. The ordinance does not conflict with state law.

Although numerous Minnesota statutes touch on the topic of employee leave, the chamber points to just one to support its conflict argument. Minn. Stat. § 181.9413

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Healy v. Beer Institute
491 U.S. 324 (Supreme Court, 1989)
State v. Kuhlman
722 N.W.2d 1 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2006)
White Bear Docking & Storage, Inc. v. City of White Bear Lake
324 N.W.2d 174 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1982)
Mangold Midwest Co. v. Village of Richfield
143 N.W.2d 813 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1966)
Bolen v. Glass
755 N.W.2d 1 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2008)
Nordmarken v. City of Richfield
641 N.W.2d 343 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2002)
State v. Kuhlman
729 N.W.2d 577 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2007)
Hannan v. City of Minneapolis
623 N.W.2d 281 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2001)
Canadian Connection v. New Prairie Township
581 N.W.2d 391 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1998)
City of Plymouth v. Simonson
404 N.W.2d 907 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1987)
Board of Supervisors v. ValAdCo
504 N.W.2d 267 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1993)
State v. Gonzales
483 N.W.2d 736 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 1992)
Melrose Gates, LLC v. Chor Moua
875 N.W.2d 814 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2016)
In the MATTER OF the Application for Licensure of Nadeen GRIEPENTROG
888 N.W.2d 478 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2016)
State v. Nelson
34 L.R.A. 318 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1896)
City of Duluth v. Orr
132 N.W. 265 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 1911)
Builders Ass'n v. City of St. Paul
819 N.W.2d 172 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2012)
Bicking v. City of Minneapolis
891 N.W.2d 304 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2017)
Jennissen v. City of Bloomington
913 N.W.2d 456 (Supreme Court of Minnesota, 2018)
Graco, Inc. v. City of Minneapolis
925 N.W.2d 262 (Court of Appeals of Minnesota, 2019)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
928 N.W.2d 757, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/minn-chamber-commerce-v-city-of-minneapolis-minnctapp-2019.