Appeal judges question Alabama minimum wage suit
ATLANTA (AP) — Some federal appeals court judges appeared skeptical of a lawsuit that accuses Alabama lawmakers of racial discrimination for blocking the majority-black city of Birmingham from raising its minimum wage.
The judges on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals questioned Tuesday whether the lawsuit was properly filed against Alabama's attorney general. Failure to sue the correct party would get the case thrown out.
Judges at Tuesday's hearing in Atlanta asked how a court order barring the attorney general from enforcing the state minimum wage law would force employers to pay Birmingham's higher minimum wage. Eric Brown, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said his clients did not have to show that every employer would pay the higher wage.
The lone African American judge on the panel, Charles Wilson, pushed back against his colleagues' concerns that an 11th Circuit ruling wouldn't affect state courts or employers. Wilson was among the judges on the unanimous, three-judge panel that sided with the workers and civil rights groups.
Read more: https://www.al.com/news/2019/06/appeal-judges-question-alabama-minimum-wage-suit.html