SF Restaurant Group Asks for 9th Circuit Rehearing

October 27, 2008 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - The Golden Gate Restaurant Association has asked all of the judges on the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a ruling issued last month approving a San Francisco law mandating workplace health coverage.

A Golden Gate Restaurant Association (GGRA) statement said the group’s rehearing petition asks the court to review the earlier   decision based on the national importance of the case and what the group said was a conflict with a previous 9 th Circuit ruling, a previous 4 th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal ruling, and an earlier U.S. Supreme Court decision.

According to the GGRA statement, if the appeal is granted, 11 judges are assigned and instructions are then issued by the court, which may or may not include call for additional oral argument.

The unanimous three-judge panel previously ruled that the ordinance does not conflict with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) (See  Appellate Court Declares San Fran Health Law not ERISA Pre-Empted ). The panel reasoned that the spending law does not “create an employee welfare plan.”

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