The International Franchise Association has asked the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington to issue a preliminary injunction preventing the city of Seattle from discriminating against small franchise businesses as part of the city’s new minimum wage law. IFA and five Seattle franchisees sued Seattle on June 11 seeking to block portions of the city’s recently enacted law to increase the city’s minimum wage to $15 per-hour. The plaintiffs asked the court to immediately enjoin the city from treating franchisees as large, national companies rather than the small, locally-owned businesses that they are.
The plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction argues that the ordinance’s arbitrary definition of small businesses violates the Commerce Clause and Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, as well as Washington State’s Constitution. The motion also contends that an injunction would be in the public interest and that franchisees will suffer “irreparable harm” unless a limited preliminary injunction is granted. Read more over at the Seattle Times.
