Judge delays temporary injunction against Lincoln's minimum wage ordinance

Lancaster County District Judge Lori A. Maret delayed granting Attorney General Mike Hilgers a temporary injunction against the City of Lincoln’s minimum wage law during a Thursday hearing in Lancaster County District Court. The City of Lincoln has until July 10 to submit a brief defending its ordinance.

Hilgers requested a temporary injunction after filing a lawsuit against the city after it passed a minimum wage ordinance June 18. That ordinance would maintain a minimum wage for minors at $15 an hour in Lincoln. The Legislature earlier this year set the minimum wage for minors at $13.50 an hour, amending a voter initiative that had set the wage at $15 an hour for all workers starting this year.

That request for a temporary injunction, if approved, would halt Lincoln’s ordinance from going into effect, as well as Omaha’s attempts to pass its own ordinance. Attorney Cody Barnett, who represented Hilgers, said the injunction is necessary because the city ordinance violates state law.

“The city has made illegal what the state has made legal, and that is a violation of the Constitution,” Barnett said.

Barnett said any employer who complies with the city’s ordinance will be in violation of state statute, or vice versa.

Lincoln City Attorney Yohance Christie countered that the ordinance does not violate state law, but instead supplements it. He argued that the Legislature set a minimum wage and that it defies common sense to prevent municipalities from setting wages above that floor.

“(The law) was never about employers ever having to pay a higher wage,” Christie said. “It was always about protecting employees.”